Classroom Tour with Bright and Happy Colors!!! - Part 1



Rainbow frame - More on how I made it later!

I have to say "I'm very proud of my room this year!" Not only have I finished my room during pre-planning with time to actually start planning for the first and second week, but I also have finished some project I have been wanting to do for years!!!!! Including this rainbow frame that will be used for all kinds of photo opportunities!!

I'm really loving my room's bright colors and how they actually match! Some of you work hard and make that happen every year, but I'm just getting the hang of it. LOL








I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' to blog about Tips and Tricks. I'm including several things in this post so look for the tips and tricks!

So, drum roll please ...



front of the room

view form where the classroom connects to my partner

math and science wall

  

Shared Area Between Classrooms

This area between the classrooms were usually mismatched and not used for anything. This year I decided to put a birthday chart in the middle. My teaching partner teaches the Language Arts and I teach Math and Science so we see both see the kids. Having it between the classrooms will hopefully help us remember ALL the kiddos bdays... Well, at least that is the plan!

 The first week of school I'm going to give the students small stars with their name's written on them. They will then write the day number of their birthday and tape it under their month. I thought this would be a different way for the kids to connect with each other and find things they have in common.

 I wanted to include some little humor at the mirror for when the kids "check themselves out" when claiming to get a drink of water. The girl's side of the mirror says beautiful and the boy's side says handsome.

This is where we will ahng student's work. At the start of the year teachers put baby pictures and facts on a poster and the students have to figure out who is who. The kids LOVE this!!

 Learning Targets and Management

I have few different ways the students and I manage the classroom.

This shows the interactive / "changable" number line I will be attempting this year. 



These are called summary statements. At the end of the day the students must pick one statement and finish it as a complete sentence in their agends. When the parents sign the agenda they then have some idea of what their child is learning.


 This is where the weekly schedule is written. On Monday mornings the students copy what's on the schedule for the week in their agendas. The students LOVE having an idea of what is happening that week. As the year progresses I can usually pick a student to help manage the calendar and write things.

 I hate hearing students ask can I get a drink of water, or tissue, or bathroom! They can use these signs and show me what they want or need when I am teaching whole or small group. This cuts down on interruptions.



 This is where I use page protectors to hang my learning goals or targets. It's very easy for me to type a quick goal or target in Power Point, print it and slide it in the pocket! Huge time saver for me! In this picture you can also see the BehaviorLog Codes. We use these codes for behavior violations and they write them in their agenda. They correspond with our report cards.

This is it for today! I am one tired teacher from a week of pre-planning. Part 2 will be written hopefully Sunday.

A Sprinkle of Color Here and There

Can you tell I love a little color?!? I'm really loving all the bright rainbow colors ... they make me feel happy! :) I will have a room reveal tomorrow when the majority of my room is finished!

It's amazing what a little colorful Duck Tape can do! 

A totally new look after a little fabric is used! LOVE THIS!!

This is for a later project .. I will be sharing soon!

A Little Magic to Start the Year off Right

I just finished a Magic Number game/trick I will be playing with my students at the beginning of the year. It's a great starter because I make my kids think I am magic and can read their minds! This freaks them out just a little. LOL


***Disclaimer: It's not really magic - Just a number game. Incase some of you were wondering!***


It's VERY easy, and if your students can add one and two digit numbers they will be able to do it too.


Basically, there are 5 magical circles and the children will choose a number and you will ask them questions to figure it out. You will figure it out every time if you don't mess up! Guarantee the students will LOVE IT!

 I have seen a similar math magic trick, but it was hand written and an old, faded copy. I'm not sure where it came from other than it had been passed down from many teachers. I searched the internet, but no luck. If you know who the originator is please let me know!!!

Does anyone have a "magic" trick or game to

intrigue the kiddos?? Please share ...

Mastering Multiplication Facts - Incentives Your Kids Will Love!!!!

I created this unit 5 years ago and I have seen my students become excited, challenged and competitive with this incentive based program. My students want to master their facts to earn each incentive. Each incentive gets them to a movie celebration with lots of yummy treats and cool rewards that are earned when more test are passes. The best thing about it (in my opinion) is the students cannot move on to the next fact group until they have mastered the previous fact group. This differentiates for my students who need more time.

 

Overview of the Mastering Multiplication Movie Celebration Unit

 

1. Students take a pre-test with 100 facts to answer to see how many they actually know (I give 10 minutes to take the test). This will also be used at the end of the unit to show the students how much they have grown.

 

2. Each week students take a test on a specific fact group. If they pass they move on the the next group, if they fail they re-take that same fact group next week again.

 

3. Once students have passed one of the following groupings (0, 1, 5, 10 fact groups- movie ticket), (2, 3, 4 fact groups - popcorn), 6, 7, 8 fact groups - soda) and/or (9, 11, 12 fact groups - candy) they get an item to add to their Student Recording Sheet. **The Student Recording Sheet should be displayed somewhere that the student sees daily.

 

4. Once a student has passed all their fact groups (0-12) they will get VIP sitting at the movie. There is a sign included in the unit. You may have some kids finish the tests early before the unit is finished. For those students I let them play a computer multiplication game while the other students are testing.

 

5. Students take post-test to see how much they have grown. Give the same amount of time you did for the pre-test. Each year I have had kids grow AT LEAST 15 facts. Some kids have grown 90. They will be blown away! Some kids have several minutes left over, so record their finished time too.

 

 

This is the Teacher Recording Sheet to track what facts students are on. I put a check when a student passes and a small dot when they do not. I can keep track of how many "non passings" (I hate the word fail) occur when I put a small dot in the corresponding box. 

Examples of the fact tests that the students take. There are test from the 0 facts to 12 facts. They are on half sheets in an effort to save a little paper. :)  

Student Recording Sheet where students write their name and attach 
the movie ticket, popcorn, soda and candy that they earn. This
should be displayed for the student to see daily.



These are an example of the incentives that the students
earn. The unit has soda, movie ticket, and candy box pictures. 

How do you use incentives to get your kids excited about mastering their facts?? Please share!

Wishlist Wednesday on TpT

I noticed there were three items on my TpT store that have a very high wishlist rate so I decided to throw my first official sale on those items !!

 My top three items are:

Beginning of the Year Procedures on Powerpoint

 

 

 

 

 

Accountable Math Talk Stems for Students - Statements and Questions

 
 

Book Basket Labels - Non Fiction Classroom Library

 

ENJOY!!!! Happy Wednesday!

"HAPPY" Classroom Object and Place Labels with Color

Year after year I looked for labels to identify the objects in my classrrom, but they never really matched. I put them up for spelling and object name. This year I decided to take some time and make my own! I went through my room and inventoried everything I wanted a label for and created EXACTLY what I wanted. My room has a lot of color so I made my object tags match! This is my first thing I am checking off my "Summer School To Do List!" YIPEE! 1,000 more to go!!! Here's a sample below ...

You can download over 40 classroom labels from my TPT store by clicking on the sample picture.