More Chevron + a Freebie!

Now that I'm FINALLY starting to catch my breath from setting up my *brand new* 2nd grade classroom (big classroom reveal post coming very soon!!), I was able to use my Labor Day to create a few new products I've had on my list for awhile.

But first - for those who played along with the Who's That Blogger?? Linky last month, only 2 people matched my school picture correctly! This is me in kindergarten, rockin' the polka dots:

{My hair still sticks out like that, that's never changed!}

Now onto my newbies! First up are my new mini word-walls that coordinate with the monthly My Little Books. I printed mine on card stock, laminated them, and put them in my writing center for Daily 5 work on writing time.

Next up are my brand-new classroom job signs made to coordinate with my chevron & brights theme items. 

I'm a tad obsessed with chevron at the moment...

 And best of all, I had time to put together a new FREEBIE for you all! 

(In chevron, of course)

 A sneak peek of the learning targets display in my classroom:

Simply click on any of the pictures above to go straight to that item!

Another BTS Freebie!

So exciting, I am the featured freebie on The Teaching Blog Addict this week! 

If you missed my freebie last week, just click on the button below! 

I have a new freebie this week, keep reading!

I am buzzing with excitement because Monday I can FINALLY work in my *brand new* 2nd grade classroom! I've done entirely too much shopping (Target and Amazon will be the death of me!) and lots of prepping at home in the meantime.

I got the idea from one of my favorite 2nd grade blogs, The Second Story Window, to create class notebooks for the writing portion of Daily 5. These are notebooks I will leave out all year for students to add their own stories to, read others' stories, and leave them comments.

    

 The notebooks were 5 for $3 at Target (they have plastic covers and bindings to make them more durable) and I made the labels using these 2x4" shipping labels. You can get the class journal labels HERE for FREE! 

(I had to save them as a PDF, but they should still print out okay onto these labels. I made them with Avery label template 8163 on Microsoft Word)

I also used these labels to organize my school supplies using these adorable boxes from Michael's that were 40% off!

Sorry for the bad lighting - I'd already packed everything into the car. Here's the rest of the mess:

And that's only half of my stuff! I sure have my work cut out for me next week!

Big news and a Freebie!

I am so excited to announce that I will be taking the plunge into 2nd grade this year! As you may or may not know, I was teaching 1st grade part-time last year. I was co-teaching with another teacher (she taught the beginning of the week, I taught at the end of the week). I've been trying for a very long time to get a full-time position and I found out two days ago that I got this position! The best part is that it's in the same school, so I'll be rolling up with my firsties!

As soon as I found out I got the job, the wheels in my head started turning. Before I can focus on the lesson plans and curriculum, I have to make my new classroom cute!! I can't start working in my classroom until August 12th (school starts on September 5th), but I can't wait to show off my new room! Here is a sneak peek of my key elements:

{Lanterns from School Girl Style, book bins from Really Good Stuff, desk organizer from Pottery Barn, the chevron teacher bag I ordered from The Carpenter's Wife!}

I'm calling my classroom theme chevron & brights!

Of course I had to make new things to go with this theme, so I re-did my schedule signs with bright-colored words (you can get this from my TpT store).

 But I couldn't stop there! I had to make more coordinating signs, so I created these below and I'm giving them away for FREE! Just click on any of the images below to get them from Google Docs!

Also shared on:

Five for (the last!) Friday

#1 - Field Trip to the Zoo + a Freebie!

 After 2 months of planning, I finally got to take my class to the Oregon Zoo this week. We had nice weather (thank goodness!) and I was able to get some great shots:

 To make the trip more educational (and to add a bit of friendly competition), I created a fun zoo scavenger hunt for the kids to do on the trip. The kids were really into finding more animals than their friends, then we compared results afterwards. You can see one of my students filling in an answer above.

You can get it for FREE by clicking on the pictures below:

           

#2 - Jamberry Nails

I'd never heard of Jamberry stick-on nail designs until I was invited to a Jamberry party last week. I'm a little obsessed with cute nails, so I was excited. At the party we got to do one nail on each hand, so I came prepared with a manicure on all but one finger! I got lucky and just happened to get a design that matched my polish. 1.5 weeks later and the nail decal is still going strong!

They had a buy 3, get 1 free deal, so I ordered these designs:

The top left design matches perfectly with my chevron-inspired bathroom and bedroom makeovers, which leads into...

#3 - Chevron Crazy

Seriously, Urban Outfitters has the CUTEST home decor. Just got these in the mail, can't wait to use them!

#4 - Telling Time

I came up with this cute little song set to the tune of "I'm a Little Tea Pot" to help my firsties remember how to tell time. It goes with body movements - using their arms to show the hour hand and minute hand. 

My team is piloting instructional coach rounds for the entire district (which they decided to spring on us the last 2 weeks of school, I might add!) so we were focusing on the GLAD strategy of TPR (Total Physical Response) when I came up with this.

#5 - Sweet Treat Awards

We aren't out of school until next week, but today we did our candy awards - the kids LOVED it! I got the idea from another teacher-blogger to lay down a "red carpet" with butcher paper so it was like a real awards ceremony. The kiddos showing off their treats:

 (FYI - it took them FOREVER to all cover their faces so I could use this on my blog, haha)

You can find the awards on my TpT store by clicking on the picture below: