Five for Friday: July 1st

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Five for Friday!

Last week was really busy with creating for the classroom, so this week was a little more focused on relaxing.

 I made the best find ever at Five Below this week! Check out my giant foam dice!

I am so excited to use these in the classroom next year! I am thinking about making a giant 120 chart mat for some math floor games. I think it would go perfectly with these giant dice!

 Next up, I have been working on some new phonics resources!

We use a phonics notebook daily in my classroom, but I wanted a way to make it more engaging for the kids, so I started making some interactive notebook sets.

So far, I have made sets for letter ID/sounds, CVC words, digraphs, r-controlled vowels, beginning blends, and ending blends. The goal is to have the rest of first grade phonics targets done by the end of the summer.

I am really enjoying them so far, I especially like printing them on bright paper so I can make my example notebooks!

I recently spent some time organizing the closet in my office, so all of the colored paper was easy to find!

Is it bad that I sometimes just stand in the doorway and look at the pretty paper? :)

 I recently started a free trial of Audible. I'm not usually a big fan of audio books, but they were offering 3 months and 3 books free, so I figured I'd give it a try.

The first book I got is one that I have been wanting to read for ages!

I plan on starting it this weekend, maybe another beach trip is in order?

 I have been spending more time outside lately. One of my favorite things to do is go for a walk around the lake by my apartment.

About half of the trail is out in the open, but the back is in a very shady area with lots of trees. It is a very peaceful place to walk. I've even seen otters in the lake!

This was taken as the sun was rising. I think it is one of my favorite pictures I have evern taken!

Last up, my sweet Maggie just had her 11th birthday!

Naturally, being a teacher's cat, her birthday presents were Dr. Seuss cat toys. :)

She quite enjoyed Thing 1 and Thing 2, but the mouse in the hat was her favorite!

She liked it so much that she was willing to dive under the entertainment center when she accidentally knocked it under. That doesn't happen... ever. I have the piles of toys under multiple pieces of furniture to prove it! :)

That's it for this Five for Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

Monday Made it: New Library Additions!

I am linking up with 4th grade Frolics for another Monday made it!

This week I am sharing some new additions to my classroom library!

First up, my new chapter book shelves!

I recently finished the classes to get my gifted endorsement, and have needed some higher-leveled books for my library for those kiddos who go beyond first grade reading levels. Enter: Scholastic Reading club! I had been saving points for ages and had enough to get a ton of chapter books at the end of the year. Unfortunately, I didn't have anywhere to put them... until now!

I got two of these black media shelves at Wal-mart (only $10 each!), but wanted something prettier. I found some turquoise contact paper and covered the inside of the shelves.

I was a bit scared at first, I have never worked with contact paper before and I was worried about messing it up. It was way easier than I thought it would be!

The only problem I ran into was when I went to put the shelves back in. It was such a tight fit that it tore the contact paper in a couple of spots. Luckily, I was able to patch them with leftover scraps of contact paper. Once they were pressed down, I could hardly tell where they were!

I added some green polka dot washi tape around the edges to finish it off. I am so in love with the results!

My plan is to have them on either side of a bench in the library. It is going to be called the "book nook." :)

Next up, a small (and awesome!) project that makes my organizational heart happy... color-coded book labels.

I started with some Avery labels and printed them with a solid color. They are rather long, so I am thinking I will be able to cut them into two or three strips each.

The colors may seem a bit random, but here is where the awesomeness comes in... they coordinate with our media center's lexile labeling system!!

I am going to start using them on the chapter books first, and may expand to the rest of the library if I like the results.

Once the kiddos take their Lexile test, they will know which color they should be picking from for a good fit book.

My next project is made entirely of materials that I found leftover from last year's crafting supplies!

I was going through my stash well-organized crafting supplies when I found these two wooden shadowbox frames.

I peeled the labels off, but was unable to get the corners off. I don't know what kind of adhesive they used to stick them on, but it would not be removed!

So, naturally I just came up with a way to cover them!

I painted the frames blue and glued some green felt on the inside to cover the label remnants. I am apparently incapable of cutting felt in a straight line, so I added the pink ribbon to cover the sides.

Voila! They are done and ready to be hung above the chapter book shelves. One will be the display of the lexile color labels, and the other is for the chapter book club. Once the kids are ready for chapter books, their name will go on the sign and they will be able to pick books from the chapter book shelves.

Next, I wanted a way for the kids to know where to put their books back without using bins. I decided to use place marker sticks.

I got some 6 inch paint stirrers and painted them blue, green, or pink. Maggie was kind enough to supervise and was well-behaved enough not to touch! She must not have gotten over that time she got paint on her and I had to chase her around the apartment with a wet washcloth... :)

(here's a quick tip- paint on tin foil for a nonstick surface that is easy to clean up!)

They looked a bit boring, so I added some polka dot washi tape and white circle labels. Once they are in the chapter book club, they will pick a stick that their cubby number go on.

They will leave the stick in place of their chapter book on the shelf so that they will know where to put their book back when they are done.

That's it for this Monday Made it, it was a busy week! Make sure to let me know what you think in the comments and remember to check out all of the other awesome made-its at 4th Grade Frolics!

Monday Made it: Lightbox Organization and a freebie

During the school year, Mondays are my absolute least favorite days, not so during the summer! I love summer Mondays because they mean I am linking up with 4th grade frolics for Monday made it!

This week, I am focused on my new Heidi Swapp lightbox!

I absolutely adore this lightbox and am already having so much fun with it, but I did run into a snag: keeping the letter/icon inserts organized.

I want to be able to find what I need relatively quickly, so digging through a box to find the letters I need is just not going to cut it. Then I had an idea...

Enter: the lightbox insert binder!

I started with these photo/coupon pocket pages that are made for 3-ring binders and a 1.5 inch binder.

Each letter has its own pocket. Right now, I have two different kinds of letters in the same pocket, but I may change that in the future. I also split up the icons into categories (smiley emojis, clothing, food, etc.)

The washi tape doesn't serve a purpose other than fancying it up a bit. :)

Here's where the freebie comes in- I made binder covers and spines (for 1 inch, 1.5 inch, and 2 inch binders) in 10 different colors! You can grab your freebie here.

That's it for this made-it. I'm already working on some fun and colorful projects for next week... I think they are going to be really cute!

Let me know what you think in the comments and make sure to check out all of the other awesome made-its at 4th grade frolics!