Almost Ready!

Most of my classroom is ready!  I am so pleased with the environment I've set up for this school year.

View to the back from the door.

I'm still over the moon about the fabric that I put up this summer.  I really love it!  This may be the first year where I don't feel like I have to take down my boards for summer.  When I used paper, it was always so faded by June.  Here's hoping!  

I've got twenty-four desks forming six tables of four each.  Each chair has a pocket that I made this summer with what I learned from Kelly at First Grade Fairytales.  They turned out so great!  I made them green to match the chairs to cut down on distractions.  Here's a close up with a student's book baggie in it.  If you do reading workshop, you might use book boxes instead.  I've done book boxes for seven years, so this will be a change for me.  I'm trying to avoid all the boxes getting dumped when kids open their desks, and it will free up three bookshelves for our class library.  I'll let you know how it works out.

Chair pockets made by yours truly!

My classroom library is in front of the center windows, which I added curtains to this year.  My windows face the playground, and it's just so distracting for the first graders to see other kids outside!  Even when I remind them that they JUST CAME IN FROM THEIR RECESS, they still cry, "NO FAIR!"  So, I'm hoping that these calming blue curtains will do the trick.  My library is really a two-for-one.  I have books that are leveled, for when they "shop for just right books," and books that are organized by genre, author, and character.  I also have some numbered tubs that are favorite picture books.  The students can choose one NON-leveled book to take home in a special bag daily.  I use THESE.  We call them CHOICE BOOKS.  I have a sticker label on them "Choice Book:  Parent reads to child."  Here's the library...

I shortened the table so kids can sit on the floor or kneel at it.

Here's one section of the pennant banner I made after Andrew at Mr. First Grade posted about making one with foam rectangles from the Dollar Tree.  Love it!

Both my upper windows now have decor!

The "Read Like Crazy" sign is from last June.  Our school has helped kids set summer reading goals for two years now.  Kids who reach their goal get to have a reunion lunch with their previous year's teacher.  My staff made the BEST video to motivate them.  We were even on the news!  You can see it HERE.  I'm in the way back, holding Three Hens and a Peacock.

I spent a good chunk of time this summer looking for deals and steals on Craig's List.  One of my hunts was all about Beanie Babies!  Our 5K uses animals to teach reading strategies, so I was on the look out for an eagle, fish, snake, monkey, dolphin, frog, lion, and owl.  I found them all, including a pile of dogs (to match my Top Dog theme, of course) from one person, for $20.  Unbelievable!  BTW, some people out there still think that Beanie Babies are worth hundreds of dollars!  What?

Reading strategy animals with labels by Lisa at Growing Firsties.  So cute!

(The Wise Owl is for checking to make sure it looks right, sounds right, and makes sense).

Cute book crates were at Wally this summer.  One dollar each, and they fit four on a shelf so much better than the old Dollar Tree tubs I was using.  I do have to turn one tub sideways, but I'm OK with that!

Come back soon to see the rest of the place!  I've got to get back in there to be ready for Tuesday morning!

I hope your Labor Day is "labor-less!"

Catherine

The Fabric is UP!

Hi!  I was able to stop in at school yesterday afternoon to put up the fabric on my bulletin boards (walls).  Last year, someone at my school discovered that WalMart was selling fabric, precut in the size we need for the big divider walls in our school.  I already had paper up by that time, so I didn't really think much of it. Here is a picture of the back wall of my room, taken yesterday, before I put the fabric on.

There are eight panels, connected in pairs.  I have the side of the wall with the hinges.  As long as I don't cover over the metal edges without the hinges, the doors can be opened and folded together.  But can I be honest?  We haven't ever had to open the wall for first graders.  We are all self-contained classrooms, so the need hasn't arisen.  We share a common area outside our doors that has tables and chairs, and if we need to meet as a grade (all 100 kids), we move the tables out and have the kids sit there.  So anyway, this summer I got fabric to cover these panels at WalMart.  

These panels are slightly wider than my boards, so I started on the outer edge, and pulled the fabric until it was smooth.  I used a regular stapler.  No special tools required.  Because the fabric was a bit wider than I needed, I was able to pull it across the hinges, hiding them from sight.  I'm pretty happy about that, because I want two panels to make one big board.  Here... take a look at what I mean:

Instead of 8 skinny boards, it looks like four wide boards.  I'm so pleased!  It didn't even take me an hour to put all of these up!  Thank goodness for my height.  I just climbed from a chair onto a desk and that was that!  I called a couple of my teacher friends to say, "I am NEVER using paper again!"  Really!

Wally Online Order Info....oh, look at those great books!

Hey, I have to admit, I got a little distracted with my post yesterday.  It ended up being more about the books than about how easy it is to order them from Wally.  What I SHOULD have shared was that when you order online from them, they send you an e-mail when your order ships to the store and another one when the order is available for pick up at the store.

Here's a tip... only the person whose name is on the order can pick it up.  The first time I ordered, I did it under my husband's name, as he already had an online ordering account with them, and I didn't see a need to make one for myself.  So, I show up at the store, and they won't let me have MY SMOOTHIE MAKER, because HIS name is on the order, not mine.  So, before that happens to you, make sure you put both your names on the account.  Even though I'm a "Catherine," I changed the name on the account to "Jim and Cathy" (as a first name).  So now either one of us can pick up any order we submit. (You can also add an alternate pick up name.)  When I picked up my book order, the Wally associate actually complimented me, "Both names, very smart."  Well, thank you!

Another tip... you have to print out the e-mail that says your order is ready for pick up and TAKE IT WITH YOU!  I usually just print the first page, as it usually has all the necessary info on it.  When you enter the service department, look for a big sign overhead that says "Order Pickup."  DO NOT stand in the line with all the returns!  Yikes!  You could be there forever, just to find out you're in the wrong line.  If there is no one at the order pick up counter, there will be something there to notify an employee of your presence.  I think you push a button on the credit card slider (what's that thing called, anyway?).  Someone will come and help you.  They'll get your order in the back and then open it so you can see everything.  If you decide not to keep something in your order, they will refund your credit card on the spot.  In my recent book order, I accidentally ordered two of the book by Stuart J. Murphy, so I only kept one, and later that day I got an e-mail from Wally showing that the money was refunded to my credit card.  Nice.

So, there you go.  All the information I wanted to share about ordering from Wally.  I just got so excited (and distracted) about the great books!

Ordering Books at Wally Online

I've really enjoyed getting to see new books that other teachers are using in their classrooms.  Usually, during the school year, I'll check Scholastic book clubs first, to see if they offer what I'm looking for.  Hey, any time I can use my bonus points is a good time!  Some of the books I've seen posted about this summer would have been perfect to share with my previous classes!  So, each time another teacher blogged about a great book, and I thought I wanted it, I added it to a list I keep in my "summer ideas for school" notebook.  When I finally had quite a number of them listed, I check out Scholastic, but they didn't have what I was looking for.  I know a lot of people who are HUGE Amazon shoppers, but I've never really been one, so I turned to... you guessed it, "Wally!"

I have had so many good experiences ordering from them online and using "ship to store."  I need to save money whenever and wherever I can, so free shipping is a must.  And who doesn't stop into Wally at least every other week?  Every week?  I suppose it depends on how close the nearest one is.  So, what I LOVE to do is put every book I want in my cart.  Then I see my total.  And then I start eliminating books based on the following criteria:

1.  It just looks really cute.
2.  It's not really a topic I teach about.
3.  I don't know how I'd fit it in.
4.  My class probably will not like it.

And then I order what's left in my cart.  Unfortunately, they didn't have a couple of the titles I was looking for, but still, seven books for about $40.  I think that's pretty reasonable.  Here are the books I chose to use with my math curriculum:

Don't you just love Stuart J. Murphy books?  I'd love to have more, so I bought this one about grouping in tens and ones.  Also, I'm surprised every year by one or two kids who can't master the even/odd numbers. I'm hoping that the characters of Even Steven and Odd Todd will help. On of my first grade team mates and I are going to try to read  math picture books at least three times each week.

Other books that I just had to have include:

I can't believe that I've taught for 15 years, seven of them in first grade, and I have NEVER owned a copy of Where the Wild Things Are?  Unbelievable.  Well, I have it now.  The other four books will help in teaching my class about expectations in first grade.  You might own and use some of these in your classroom already.

Do you know this book?

Hunter's Best Friend at School has been a favorite of mine for several years.  In this book, Hunter and Stripe are best friends.  They do EVERYTHING together, and most things the same.  Except that Stripe is naughty at school.  And he gets Hunter to be naughty, too.  Hunter feels terrible and talks it over with his mom. She suggests that Hunter doesn't have to do everything like Stripe.  Maybe Hunter should try to get Stripe to do what he does, which is behaving.  I bet you can guess how it ends.

Isn't it fun getting ready to go back to school with new ideas?  It's a fresh start every September.  I love it!