Ocean Friends... Revisit

So I realized as I was taking down some of my boards and getting ready to plan next year's theme... (Still not sure what I am going to do!)  that I never posted pics of my finished ocean boards.  ACK!  They turned out SO cute, and the kids started SQUEALING when I started taking them down. Here is the original post: Ocean Friends

Here they are finished, maybe they will inspire someone for next year!

(Yes, those are bite marks out of the letters!) 

Not the clearest picture, but y'all can get the gist. We love it. I used plastic "scene setter" for the backdrop. It doesn't fade, and is easy hang and reuse. It is also great for me because I have bumpy walls, and it doesn't crease weird like paper.

  NOW FOR MY BIG DILEMMA! 

Not sure what I want to do next year... I think I  am between bees (using yellow and black) and dinosaurs.  I am teaching summer school, and hope to have some stuff up before it is over.  I don't want to worry about it until August. 

Hmmm.... So...what do you guys think?? I need to get crackin'!

Callie :-) 

Important Scientist Flap Book- YAY!

I am so excited!!  It was a long time in the making but I FINALLY finished my "Important Scientist" flap book, and it turned out super, if I do say so myself!  See.......

This is the cover.  I also made an optional cover that says "Our Book of Important Scientists"  because I think this would work great as a class research project, too.  

(Yes! That is is tongue depressor holding it together!)

Each page is folded to have a flap. The front cover of the flap has a drawing of the scientist in a cute frame! (Kudos and thanks to my hubby for drawing all of the pics!!)

The flap opens to expose some biographical info and fun facts. 

(My 1st grader helped me with Alexander- this was a family affair!)

The file contains printables for 18 different scientists:

-George Washington Carver 
-Albert Einstein
-Daniel Hale Williams
-Elizabeth Blackwell 
-Isaac Newton
-Jane Goodall
-John Muir
-Louis Braille
-Mae Jemison
-Michael Faraday
-Neil Armstrong
-Margaret Mead
-Henry Ford
-Sally Ride
-Thomas Edison
-Nicola Tesla
-Alexander Graham Bell and
-Orville and Wilbur Wright

CHECK it OUT here:

Happy researching!

Making Test Prep SNOW much fun!

So, here in the desert it doesn't snow. In fact, quite a few of my students have NEVER even seen snow. Imagine their surprise when I told them we were going to have a snowball fight in our classroom... HA! To motivate my kiddos during our last stretch of test prep, whenever we were finished with an assignment, they got to crumple it up and throw the paper at the board. THEY LOVED IT! By the end of the week we had a lot of accumulation in the front of our room...

 

To make it even MORE fun, I would randomly pick a few snowballs, and give out some powdered sugar "snowballs." (I looked for doughnut holes, but this was all I could find at the time. The kids didn't even seem to mind.)

 It made the grueling work of test prep fun. My kiddos were actually BEGGING for more snowball pages. I have done "snowball" fights before to trade and grade. The kiddos think that is fun, too.

Have a great week!!

Testing week is here!! ACK!

Well, here in Arizona the weather is beautiful and the sky is clear.  The only thing looming this time of year is testing.  Sigh.... Like everyone else, it STRESSES me out!  While I was blog-hopping a few years back, I saw some clever teacher-made cute candy treat buckets to motivate her kiddos. (If you are the blogger, please let me know! I tried to search for the original post, but couldn't find it.)

Anyhoo, I tried it last year, and my kiddos liked being "caught" applying their test strategies. I hang the large signs up on my board, and tell the kiddos I will be watching to see who is really using their strategies, focusing, looking for evidence, and REALLY thinking- NOT fake thinking!!   If I "catch" someone I jot their name down and note what they were doing.  After the testing session is complete, the students who were "caught" get to pick a treat from the corresponding bucket.  Just a little extra bit of incentive.  :-)

If you would like the signs, click the image to download them FREE from my TPT store.

Happy Testing!! 

Ticket Out the Door!

Hello bloggy friends!
I just wanted to share a little poster I made for my exit tickets.  I saw several of these floating around Pinterest, but decided to jazz mine up a bit!  I love giving the students a problem to solve or a "ticket out the door."  Not only is is motivational, and gets them working,  it is a great way to assess learning in a quick way.  I put a problem or question on the board, and the kiddos answer on a 3 x 3 sticky note.  On the way out, they place the sticky on their corresponding number.  Also a quick way for me to check who completed the task as well.

I made my chart using a standard black poster board and some colored paper.  I cut the paper squares into 3-1/2" squares and glued those puppies down.  I used a 1" round punch for the circles and wrote the numbers with a good 'ol Sharpie.  Then I laminated the whole thing.  (I love to laminate!)   Easy-peasy and the kiddos think it is super cool.  They actually beg me to give them "tickets" out the door!

You can get a free copy of my title HERE or by clicking on the picture.
Font courtesy of Kevin and Amanda. 

Happy weekend! 

Clip Chart Minis and Seasonal Awards

Hello Bloggy friends!
     This, by far, has been the BUSIEST back to school I can remember in the 20 years I have been teaching.  Luckily, things are starting to settle down.  WHEW!  (Did I just jinx myself??!??)
     Just wanted to let all of my Clip Chart fans fans know that I recently added a FREE set of MINI clip charts to my TPT store.  It is the same great chart, but I have made them mini-sized!  I taped them on desks of some of my kiddos who need a more immediate reminder.  The kids use a large paper clip to slide up and down the chart. I secured the chart on the ends with clear packing tape. So far, so good!  In fact, many of the other kiddos asked if they can have their own, too.  Cute!

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, I have updated my Clip Chart Companion Pack.  The updated file is more complete than the original, and has more management forms and a clearer explanation of how I run the clip chart system in my classroom.  SO, if you have already purchased it, please go back and re-download it. 

And to top it off, I also have a new set of Clip Chart Awards- Seasonal Edition.  This set has awards for every month that also correspond with the Clip Chart.  It is pretty cute!  

Here is a preview: 

Hope everyone is having a great start!  I have taken LOTS of pictures of things to share.  Now just need to find the time to do it!  

Happy teaching! 

Love, Teach-A-Roo

Ocean Friends

Happy Sunday Blog Buddies!
Well, for me today is the last day of summer vacation. I have a smattering of trainings throughout the week,then back full time next week. I haven't been in my classroom at all this summer, but left it in pretty good shape... I hope! (Or I am in COMPLETE denial!)

You can always tell it is back to school time if you see foam insulation in the back of the truck!

 I am changing from my cool space theme to OCEAN this year.  I love  using insulation styrofoam to create awesome dimensional artwork for my classroom.  I talked about it in my "Themes" post 2 years ago when we made my farm themes decorations. A whole sheet is under $10 at Home Depot, and if you have a bit of drawing ability (or know someone who does...) and a handy little heat tool, they are pretty easy to make!
 

 My hubby has been helping me work on some new ocean critters this weekend.  He draws and cuts the styrofoam, and then I paint and glitter.  
Here is a sneak peak. They will go up in my room tomorrow. :-)

 

BTW... any Deadliest Catch fans will appreciate that we have named the crabs Sig and Edgar.  Deadliest Catch is totally one of my favorite shows!! 

Hugs... Callie