Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Monday, July 6, 2015

Monday Made-it: Whisper phones, magnets, and my new lanai!

Welcome to another Monday Made-it!
 
 
 
I can't believe it is July already! Last week was pretty busy here. I babysat my parent's yorkie, Gidget. She is a very sweet and loving dog, but she is also quite neurotic (some neighbors have been known to call her the Yorkshire terror!)
 
 She was with me for about 7 hours... it certainly reminded me why I am a cat person! Poor Maggie had to stay in my office all day, she is twice Gidget's size and not the friendliest cat when it comes to other animals. Needless to say, none of us were thrilled with the arrangement!
 
 
I did get to spend my fourth of July in a very relaxed setting though, so that helped me to de-stress after a day of barking yorkie!
 

Now on to the made-its!
 
 
My first made-it this week was something I have been wanting to do for a long time... whisper phones!
 


I actually ended up getting the wrong pieces (oops!) and they didn't fit together, so I used a combination of hot glue, e-6000, packing tape, and duck tape. Maybe a bit overboard, but I didn't want to take any chances of them falling apart!

 
Naturally, the duck tape had to be the flamingo kind... :)
 
I plan on keeping these in the library so my students can take one when they get books.
 
 
So my next made-it is something that I already had in my classroom. I made myself some number magnets a few years ago, but some have gotten misplaced or broken and I figured I could use a few new sets.
 
I use them on my behavior chart and a few boards around my room (center groups, guided reading groups, data chats, etc.) The boards are all made out of cookie sheets from the dollar store, so the magnets work really well and the boards don't take up too much space.
 

I started by tracing the glass stones onto the scrapbook paper and cutting them out (very time-consuming, but they fit better than when I tried just winging it!)

 
I wrote the numbers with a sharpie and used the mod podge to attach the scrapbook to the back of the marbles.


Once the mod podge had dried, I used E-6000 to attach magnets to the back of the stones. I used to use hot glue, but I find that the magnets usually pop off if they get dropped, so I am hoping that E-6000 will hold up a little better.
 

 
Here they are! I ended up making one set this way, them I found these solid white glass stones and decided it would be much faster to just write on the front with a sharpie!
 

Not as colorful, but a lot of my classroom has white polka dots, so I figure they will fit right in!
 
 
And now for the project that I am most excited about, my new lanai!
 
 
I am very into turquoise and green lately, so my lanai ended up matching my new classroom colors!
 
 
I got most of the new furniture from Pier 1 and Target, but there are a few things from Wayfair and Amazon as well.
 
 
It actually all started with this papasan chair. I have always wanted one and it was impossible to resist when I saw that they had the outdoor cushion in turquoise!
 
 
I got that little planter and planted some flowers, ornamental grass, and catnip. Unfortunately, I do not have a green thumb and only the catnip has survived! I think I might have to replace the real plants with silk ones.
 
 
 
The door to the storage closet looked a little bare, so I made this wreath. The flowers are supposed to be for indoor use, but they get very little sun and don't get wet when it rains, so I am hoping they will last.
 
 
Maggie and I are loving the new lanai, and she even lets me sit in the papasan chair sometimes!
 
 
As always, make sure you head on over to Fourth Grade Frolics and check out all of the other great made-its!
 
 


Monday, June 30, 2014

Monday Made it and a QR Code Freebie!

I'm linking up with 4th grade frolics for another Monday Made It, and this one includes a freebie!

www.4thgradefrolics.blogspot.com

I only have one project this week, but it is a big one! I don't see myself finishing this project for quite some time, but here is what I have done so far.

My school started the BYOD (bring your own device) program last year and I was trying to come up with some quick and easy literacy centers I could pull without a lot of prep. I was using QR codes to link to read alouds on YouTube last year for my fast finishers, but I wanted to use them for a center.

Unfortunately, a lot of the videos I found for the stories we like to read have pretty bad audio quality and my little ones were always complaining they couldn't understand what the person was saying. So, I decided to record some myself!

In addition to recording the stories, I have come up with a couple of coordinating writing prompts for each story. This way I can give the students one to work on when they finish with the story, or let them pick one of the two to write about. I have been printing/cutting/laminating everything I make so that I can just grab a set for the day and be done!

I have a few sets up for sale in my store, but here is a freebie:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/QR-Code-Listening-Center-The-Crayon-Box-that-Talked-1296704

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/QR-Code-Listening-Center-The-Crayon-Box-that-Talked-1296704

If you are interested, the rest of the sets I have finished so far can be found here. Each set is a group of 4 stories. They are grouped by topic, theme, or author. Each story comes with two different prompts (as seen on the cards above), two writing response papers, and some generic graphic organizers that can be used with any story.

In addition to my classroom books that I brought home with me for the summer, I have a huge stack of books from the library that are just waiting to be recorded, so I know what I will be working on for the next few weeks... Now if I could only keep Maggie the cat quiet while I am working!

Victoria

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Enchanted-In-Elementary