Read Across America: Celebrating Seuss

We celebrated Dr. Seuss with lots of books and activities this year! I'm lucky to have a fun team that works well together and we decided to do rotations through each others classes. Each teacher read a Seuss book and did an activity with each class. The kids had a blast! 

My door! I do love KG Fonts, but I had to improvise for a few missing letters. Silly printers.

We sent letters home that announced March 2nd would be Wacky Wednesday and the kids delivered on their outfits. They had so much fun!  Some of the second grade team also came dressed to the Seuss-y nines! 

I look like Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter but I had fun!

For my book, I chose Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose and was excited when I realized that many students had never heard it before. If you haven't either, it's about a sweet, unsuspecting moose that lets an ungracious group of guests aboard his antlers as permanent residents. Even when his moose friends ditch him to search for food in winter's cold, Thidwick doesn't kick out his unwanted companions. In the end he sheds his antlers and outruns the guests and some overzealous hunters. 

We made Thidwick bags and a simplified version of Moose Munch to fill them with. To make the bags, the kids cut out a printed picture of Thidwick and traced their hands to make antlers.

We added a few friends to the antlers with stickers too!

The munch was a combo of buttery popcorn, mini chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and shredded coconut. It was a big hit! 

The kids also got to make Oobleck, a Horton head piece, a Cat in the Hat mask, Yertle Turtles, and cotton candy Truffla trees during their rotations with my teammates. It was a wonderful Wednesday!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! 

Getting Organized: Journals

Before I figured out that I needed a simple way to keep my students' reading journals organized, grading them was kind of miserable. They were a jumble of random reading responses and center word work and finding what I was looking for in them was a chore. I realized they must feel the same way!

I created a system that was very easy to set-up. I put their notebooks together in about 20 minutes and all I needed was some glue.

I printed out my labels and tabs on pretty Astrobrights and used a paper cutter to trim them. I divided up each notebook into three sections and glued away.

I included an "I Can" statement on each cover for my students' reference.

You could easily makeover your math, science, social studies, etc. journals as well with whatever tabs and covers you need.

I love this resource because if I want to change the way I organize my notebooks next year, I easily can. I like easy! 

The tabs and covers are editable and can be customized so that they make sense for your organization needs. There are also four different cute covers to choose from. I love Whimsy Clips clip art kids. They are the cutest!

Editable Tabs

Here is one editable cover option.

Click {HERE} to check them out in my store! * I created my notebooks before I updated this resource. The tabs in the download are a bit thinner in width so that you can fit much more than just three sections in your notebooks if needed*

If one of your New Year resolutions is organization then click {HERE} to revamp your notebooks.

Happy 2016!

How To Survive a Classroom FULL of Boys

Two things happen everyday in my classroom. Someone gets tackled and someone does a somersault. I have a classroom full of boys. With a 5:10 ratio, us girls are outnumbered. I have seen more blood, sweat and tears this year than any before, and then there's the kids!

If you're living in a world where your students are mostly males, here's a few tips on how to survive your classroom of rowdy, somersaulting, farting (yep), fighting, and often hilarious boys.

1. Come to terms with what your classroom rug really is. Whole group lesson area? No. Independent reading refuge. PFFFFT. Writing island? HAHAHA. NO. It is a gymnastics mat. A Slip 'N Slide. One may even describe it as a trampoline. These are 7 year old boys we are talking about. No surface is safe from a slide into home.

2. Attach a mirror to your whiteboard. You'll need it to see the face-smacking and eraser throwing that's going on behind you while you're making that super cute anchor chart.

3. Give up on having them sit. LET IT GO. Let them stand. Let them stand, Let them staaaaand.
Turn away and slam the door...
On the way you did things last year. For your sanity and there's, just let them stand or kneel or do anything other than sit. They can't. They won't. You'll spend all day asking so you're better off just letting it go, girl.

4. Purchase a whistle. That's all.

5. LAUGH. A lot. At yourself, at the chaos, for the few girls looking to you for guidance on how to survive the deafening cloud of testosterone. Just laugh! Also, don't feed them anything with sugar.

Enjoy your fart-joke free holidays! Unless you're a mom of boys, then just eat chocolate (and wine).