Top 10 Fav's in My Room

How much do we love decorating our rooms?   You will be able to tell really quickly that my room theme is Safari. I am constantly looking for things  that are not only decorative but that function well.   I can't even imagine what my room would look like without Pintrest.  So many of the things I do are inspired by all of you teacher bloggers and all the ingenious ideas posted on Pintrest.  So, here are my top 10 favorites!

1.  C.R.A.F.T. Bulletin Board

These were from 

http://www.ladybugsteacherfiles.com/2012/04/more-craft-cafe-headers.html

I love her stuff!  

2.  Daily 5 Choice Board

I got these from 

http://www.3rdgradethoughts.com/search/label/daily%205#.UG91gE1DTCk

Actually, I got them from her TPT store, but she has sooo much great stuff on the Daily 5 that I had to share her blog link.  I wrote the students numbers on flower petals and then put self-adhesive Velcro on the back.  It is a really easy way for the students to move them through the choices.  And yes, this is more of the $2.50 vinyl I bought at Wal-Mart that you will see in the project below.  I can't believe I got two projects out of this one piece of vinyl!

3.  Milk Crate Bench

The dual purpose of seating and storage is awesome!  My students love this and the best part is the vinyl I used for the cushion was on clearance for $2.50 at Walmart!!!  Here is the one that gave me the inspiration to give it a try.  

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3xlAgQWkDYn0BjrzZpMwlAKZJO0TPHhcIf1TS-l8h_Xcs9a2HWSEHORwJtmwIxc3p_Vkg9jRKYSoJw4EIM8f4cTxhJgV3VEVxsn_0quyLu9NYwhxHXJiSex-53t7CQMIDLw5J3aue2R4/s1600/bench+2.JPG

4.  Door Decorations

I love my door decorations this year.  I had the Toucan and knew I needed to come up with a clever saying. I thought this was kind of cute.  What do you think?  

5.  Top Banana Board

Every week I choose a student to be our "Top Banana".  I use this board to display pictures they bring from home and some of their favorites.  I put contact paper over the paper so I can use sticky tack on the back of the pictures.  That way it doesn't damage the pictures that I send back home and the contact paper keeps the grease from the sticky tack from staining my paper.  (Side note - the contact paper doesn't normally look this shiny - read yucky - this is just a reflection of the flash.)

6.  Class Library

I spent so much time making book bin labels and book stickers for my whole library this summer.  I put a sticker on every single book I own (with some help from my sister).  It wasn't until I was done that I saw that TPT had some great sets.  Oh well!  I still love my library and how much easier it is for the students to put the books back in the right place.  I love my little tiki hut!  I also made a book hospital which has worked out great.  Now they know not to interrupt me to tell me there is a little tear on page 54.  They just put it in the book hospital and I get to it when I have time.

Don't you love the giraffe with the nurses hat I glued on?

My inspiration:

http://www.learninginwonderland.com/2012/07/monday-made-it-owls.html?showComment=1343699094593

7.  Writing Process Bulletin Board

8.  Writing Process Clip Board

My inspiration

9.  Clock

I was so excited when I found these numbers to go around the clock.  I just printed them on dark green paper.  Loving it and so handy!

My inspiration

http://stepintosecondgrade.blogspot.com/search/label/time

How great is Amy Lemons!  Ah-maz-ing!

10.  My Safari Theme

I am really enjoying this theme.  It is kid friendly, yet kind of glam too!

Well that's my top ten!  What's yours?

We all know how much our students struggle with writing.  It seems like the harder we work trying to teach writing, the less they enjoy it. I decided I wanted needed to find a way to show them writing can be fun.  I had taught summer writing in the past, and although it was successful, I still didn't feel like they realized how fun expressing themselves in writing can be.  That is when I thought of doing it as a camp. I had seventeen campers sign up for this adventure.  I love how my room theme inspires me, so I knew I needed a theme for the camp too.  I decided to go with a "Survivor" theme. I set up four tribes.   This allowed me to break them up into homogeneous groups for differentiated instruction.   We met for five consecutive days.  I was a little concerned that five hours each day might be too much for them, but the only negative comment I got on the evaluation sheets was that it should be longer!  We explored several different genres including narrative, fairy tales, dramatic, and informational.  We targeted specific skills such as brainstorming, getting through the writing process, plot, and word choice.  The campers came back more excited each day than the day before...you remember I said this is a writing camp, right?  So I guess I could say mission accomplished.  I am going to get all of the materials together and post pictures soon.  Now it is time to start thinking about getting my classroom ready.