Grandparents' Day

Hey there, fashionistas!  Are you as ready for the weekend as I am?!  I just love this time of year!  Football, lattes, leaves starting to fall, pumpkin everything...    

We celebrated Grandparents' Day at my school this week.  A little later than the actual holiday, but it was fun to still honor the kiddos' grandparents and/or special guests.  It's always tough for me to come up with something special to do because we only have limited time in the classroom (20 minutes) and I want to impress the grandparents!  I always start by having the students stand up, say their name and introduce their guest(s).  I give them a heads up ahead of time, but still always have one or two that realize they don't know they're grandma or grandpa's real name once they stand up to introduce them.  "Um, this is Nana and Papa...(whisper) Wait, what's your real name?"  Haha :)  This leaves us with about 15 minutes for an activity, cookies and juice. 

 This year, I left a Venn Diagram at everyone's seat to complete with their guest as everyone trickled in.  They came up with the best ideas, and it lead to a great discussion, generation to generation!  Find a free copy of this in my TPT store here.

Next, I had the students and guests complete an apply glyph activity together with the remaining time.  This is an activity that could easily be used outside of Grandparents Day, too!  I thought it might be fun to complete with our 1st grade buddies in the future.  I created my own apply glyph directions (find a copy here), but used the apple template from this product.  I was super thrilled with how they turned out!  

 

And of course, I had to look extra cute for the grandparents! :) 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll connect with me over on Instagram and Facebook, too!

I'm Baaaaaack!

Hey guys!  It's me, your long-lost blogger friend!  I swear I think about posting on this little blog at least weekly, but then life just gets in the way!  Now that the beginning of the school year craziness is starting to wind down, I'm hoping to be back to posting more on the regular.  You are all such awesome supporters and I so appreciate your sweet comments!  Thanks for sticking with me  :-)

I figured I better give you a little update on my life lately since it's been so darn long, so here goes:

Logan and I had a GREAT summer and traveled a ton!  We spent a week with his family in Estes Park in June, celebrated the 4th with my family in Okoboji, visited his brother in Dallas at the end of July, and flew to California for Labor Day weekend to visit friends.  Next up, we're headed to Minneapolis for Logan to run the Twin Cities marathon, and then I'm ready to chill at home for quite awhile!  All this traveling has been super fun, but I'm perfectly fine with being a homebody for the next few months!

We also finished our basement this last winter/spring, so we've been really trying to enjoy it this summer!  I'm hoping to post some more photos for you here soon!  We installed a projector instead of a T.V. and so far it's been great for football games this fall (and it's perfect for Bachelorette / Dancing with the Stars viewing parties, too!)  

I'm trying really hard to stay on a shopping budget with all of the basement and traveling expenses from this summer, but I feel like I'm really analyzing my purchases more than I did before, and getting more use out of my existing wardrobe.  I'm not working at Loft this fall, and that has actually helped me spend a little less, but I miss the interactions with my fun co-workers and clients, and the discount too :)

My school year is off to a great start!  I have a sweet group of 19 kiddos, which seems like a really small group compared to 26 from last year!  My team is brand-new to each other, but things seem to be going really well!  I've kept my owl theme, but moved classrooms, so I'm hoping to have some photos to show you in the next month or so.

The puppies are cute as ever, and Henry celebrated his first birthday last week.  He is our little rescue Yorkie we adopted back in November from the same rescue our sweet Rosie girl was from, who passed away last May.

While I've been neglecting the blog, I've been posting plenty of outfit and daily life photos over on Instagram.  Follow along if you aren't already: @thefashionistateacher.  Hoping to be back again next week!  I miss you guys!

Penguin Main Idea

It was FREEZING cold in Nebraska during our first week back from Winter Break, so it was only fitting to have a penguin theme for our main idea review week in reading.  We had so much fun learning about Emperor penguins and reading a silly story about Tacky the Penguin.  Our fun week culminated with a paper plate penguin craft.

Find this cute main idea notebook page here, free from 'A Library and Garden' on TPT.  It was the perfect activity to accompany Tacky the Penguin.

  
The next day, we read a non-fiction text about Emperor penguins.  Students were assigned a section of the book to re-read with a partner and identify the main idea and details.  The activity culminated with this adorable (and super easy) penguin craft.  Find directions here on Huppie Mama.


  
 

This booklet provided great additional practice for my kiddos!  They had to read different 'chapters' about penguins and identify the heading or title for each section.  Excellent practice for our state reading assessment coming up in April!
Find it here on TPT.
 

I'll leave you with some Instagram style inspiration from last week.  I've been living in winter vests, sweaters, leggings and warm scarves!  Follow @thefashionistateacher on Instagram for daily pics and outfit ideas.

 

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Classroom Tour 2014-2015

My favorite, favorite, FAVORITE pins to pin and blog photos to view are of real-life elementary school classrooms.  There are so many AWESOME teachers out there with some really fun and cute classrooms that provide such great inspiration!  Today I'm (finally) sharing my classroom photos with you, in hopes that you can be inspired by my classroom as much as I have been by all of yours!

 

I spend just as much, if not more, time in this space than I do at home, and have found that a well-decorated classroom contributes to a more cheerful mood while working.  I think that our students really appreciate a fun learning environment as well!  Enjoy your tour of my owl-themed classroom :)

Morning Meeting / Read Aloud / Reading Area

 

Since students complete a 'Genre Challenge' throughout the course of the year in independent reading, books are categorized by genre in my classroom library to make selecting a book a little easier.

We spend a lot of time reviewing and practicing independent reading expectations at the start of the school year, so posters displayed on the sides of the bookshelves serve as constant reminders to students.

This is our gathering spot for "Morning Meeting" and read alouds.  We have our calendar, 'Owl-Star' of the week poster and Book Recommendation Tree displayed here.

Bulletin Boards

I don't change my bulletin boards much throughout the course of the year, so I try to choose themes and displays that contain essential information for students to use from unit to unit as a constant reference and reminder of key concepts.

White Boards / SMART Board

  I definitely take full advantage of my magnetic white boards!  I display our schedule, morning jobs, clip chart, star jars, anchor charts, etc. and use the document camera during instruction to display notes and key concepts on the SMART Board.  I didn't have either in my first classroom, so I feel very fortunate!

Small - Group Area
 

I meet with guided reading and math groups and intervention groups in this area.  I also spend time here when conferencing with students about their writing and performing fluency checks.  I keep all necessary materials on the bookshelf behind the table.  A class names "Wordle" and classroom rules are displayed above the shelves.

 Back Counter Area

Students turn in work to the colored baskets, and highlight their name on a class list once they have done so.  That way, I can easily check to see who I need to track down homework from each morning.  I also have a small supply station next to the baskets for students to use for replenishment if needed.

 

 

These cute owls were super easy to make (paper lanterns and scrapbooking paper) and serve as our class mascots.

Student Work Display

My student work display was super easy, too!  I just laminate construction paper, hot glued some cute ribbon on top, and attached an owl name cut-out to a clothespin.  I hang seasonal or work from our current unit of study from each student's clip.

Teacher Desk Area
 

 

This is where I keep frequently used items like student review booklets, alternate snacks, reward tickets and coupons, etc.  I also have a file drawer assigned for each day of the week to store copies, books, station games and other supplies for the week.

My personal display :)  I love the drawing my mom framed for me that I made in Kindergarten showing what I want to be when I grow up.

Students move their owl magnet to "restroom," "office," or "library" to show where they are going if leaving the classroom.  I'm a little obsessed with using every magnetic surface possible :)

Computer Area / Word Wall

Students use the computers for Accelerated Reader and math and reading practice games.  The word wall contains vocabulary words and concepts that correlate with state reading standards, so that students are familiar with this academic vocabulary come time for their state reading test in the spring.  I move a sticky to the poster of the skills and strategies we are working on for the week to help students connect the vocabulary words with our weekly concepts.

This cute frame sits atop our mailboxes.  The name is changed each week to recognize a different student for responsible or respectful behavior.  Find the download here in my TPT store.

Whew!  It was so fun to show of my 'home away from home'!  Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave me your feedback, questions, etc.!  I'd LOVE to hear from you!  Have a GREAT week, friends!