Bulletin boards are a great way to add color, personality, and student work to the hallway. But let's be honest, they take a lot of work too! To compromise on the work of it all, but not the other benefits, I set my board up for the year. I keep the background color and border the same all year long and just change what goes on it. Here, for the start of the school year, I made polaroid picture frames that housed each of their smiling faces from the first day of school. It had their name on each of the frames too! I cut the letters using my Cricut cutting machine, but you can print and cut at home with this file from my TPT store. I always laminate the letters in hopes of using them again in years going forward. Currently, I'm thinking of a June bulletin board that changes to "Picture yourself in second grade". We shall see! Now this one was a family time, at home, project. I set the plain turkey, copied on construction paper, home the last week of October. Families has 1-2 weeks to use whatever they had around the house to decorate a turkey. It's amazing how the themes and objects used represent the family themselves! It was a great project and bulletin board. Again, I used the Cricut to cut the letters and free fonts from websites online, for more details check out the Thanksgiving post! I must confess, this is a repeat. Yup, I laminate letters and any decorations to reuse in different years. The lightbulbs I made new to include each student's name on the board. To be honest, I'm not sure they know who Charlie Brown is but now that I'm thinking about it I'll ask them in class! Slightly before the end of January, I sent home a letter to parents asking them to fill our hearts with love. Parents took this task and did an out of this world job of collecting love from siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, AND pets! Messages about why they love that child or words describing them. When the students got to read each heart, their face light up. Priceless. For the parent letter template and bulletin board letters click this link to my TPT store. *This blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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Organizing your classroom is something I do in the summer! It does take some time and presents its own challenges. This year I changed grade levels and districts; walking into an EMPTY classroom is great but also forces you to think about how you will set up the flow of your room, students, supplies, and materials. I had to figure out where things would fit, work, and be practical; therefore things moved many many times. Organizing Classroom Supplies
Small Group Learning Space
A carpet is a great meeting sport for partners or small groups to meet and collaborate. This great carpet came from Amazon! It matched everything so perfectly and was a great reference for beginning readers too!
Classroom LibraryColorful and bright is definitely what I have going on in the library! We also have some Book Buddies that both function as a friend to read to and a decoration in the room!
The bins will come with card stock labels that fit in that slot perfectly, I measured the card and created my own to continue the colors with Astrobrights card stock. Book Bin Labels Shared Space: Morning Meeting/LearningIf you aren't a teacher, I bet you didn't think a carpet needed to be organized! Telling students to simply sit on the carpet can be a mess of space and disagreements. These are also from www.ReallyGoodStuff.com and it is a velcro like backing that sticks to most carpets. They were much cheaper than their competitor, use letter sense, and assign a space to each student. WORTH IT! The vacuum can go right over without damage or getting stuck! Student Supplies
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The school year is coming! I've spent the last couple weeks attending new teacher induction within my new district, followed by some professional development on technology. After weeks of information, I'm approaching the jump off from being a middle school teacher, straight into the primary teacher pool! I'm so nervous, anxious, and excited to start the school year! I've worked hard to create a space that would be warm, welcoming, but not too overwhelming for students! I realize a "Pinterest Worthy Classroom" does not make a better teacher or learning experience, but I also realize that classroom community is the foundation to the school year. The first person students see is me, but this room is also something to be excited about! They will be spending more time awake, moving, learning, and creating in this classroom then they will at their own home (plus I enjoy creating the space for them).
To welcome students back to school, I made this bulletin board for our hallway space! Each of the polaroid frames has a student's name on it, after we take some pictures on the first day students will really be able to 'picture themselves in the first grade'! It can be found in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for you! *This blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Things are about to change, I'm moving from 5th grade to 1st grade this fall! There are so many differences between the way a 5th grader and a 1st grader works and thinks, am I prepared? I'm moving into a (gorgeous and huge) new classroom, which means the cabinets are empty (a blessing and a curse).
During this past school year we celebrated Read Across America Week. The first day had a theme of "Bring a Book Buddy" for D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read). I was surprised of the amount of 5th grade friends that brought a stuffed animal or baby doll from home to read with during D.E.A.R time. Sometimes teachers forget that, as big as our 5th graders are, they are still children. I want to bring play and fun into my new classroom as much as I can, Book Buddies are an easy way to incorporate reading and fun at the same time! Here are some Book Buddies that I found at Kohl's this week. (Should I Share my Ice Cream? Knuffle Bunny Sneetches Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose) The proceeds raised benefit children across all of our communities (which is a great reason to explain why I needed ALL of the Mo Willem book characters). I also lucked out by finding some of the old Dr. Seuss Kohl's care line at a clearance price! *This blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Bulletin boards are great way to encourage community and school spirit. They can be educational, motivational, or just pure decoration. Either way, when the kids see something new they get excited (especially when their name or face is on it)!
*This blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
It is no secret that teachers spend their own money on the little things to improve their classroom and student learning. For me, if I have an organized classroom I am better able to adapt to the various surprises in any given day. These are just a few ways The Dollar Tree helped me prepare for the school year. Snack Pack ContainersThese great two pack snack containers can be used for anything! In early August I was given a surprise when I went to pick up just a couple more, that they ended up being a three pack for $1!
Book BoxesYou'd think these boxes were designed for our leveled readers! I scored these book bins in our three leveled colors. Before the books were in a wash basin, bound in rubber bands. The rubber bands kept snapping, the boxes squeezed the books in awkwardly, it just wasn't a fit. The only downfall of these bins is that we have a fourth reader series for building background and vocabulary support, but they didn't have a fourth color bin! If you have seen bins like this please let me know! They are the perfect fit for the books and my classroom, and at $1 each who can beat that?! Duct Tape
Small Group Instruction
Gift GivingBack to School or End of Year gift giving can be expensive. I love using the water bottles and my Cicut to personalize a quick and affordable gift. These water bottles were used as birthday gifts to my team members. I have also bought the tumblers to personalize at the end of the year for students in my classroom.
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AuthorCurrent 1st grade teacher and former middle school educator trying to be techy, Reading Specialist, life long learner, and avid reader Categories
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January 2021
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