Back to School Summer Projects/Michael's Stores 'Create 2 Educate' Contest

Hi all! It's been such a busy first few weeks of school as the beginning of the year always is?!! I wanted to share some projects I worked on over the summer for my classroom for the 2014-15 school year. I entered all of my projects into the Michael's Stores 'Create 2 Educate' contest and almost ALL of my projects were asked for permission to be used on their site! YAY! That was so exciting!! I worked on the projects throughout the summer and here is a peek of what they look like! I will try to post more pics soon for my 2014-15 classroom reveal which will show how they are being used!

I made this frame for the first day of school!

Here are some pictures on the process of creating this frame.
I hand-painted everything except for the apple!

Here are some options I played around with before I chose the actual layout of the words.

Here are my new 'trash' bins for my students to use at their tables
when they are cutting or working on projects.
I also made a 'headphones' bin for my listening center.

I made these Crayola supply holders to hold my Sharpies and highlighters.

Not sure what I'm using these little bins for but I couldn't pass on making them!

My new 'Goals' board! I will set goals throughout the year.
The pencils will be a reward my students will have to earn when meeting our first goal!

Last but not least, what turned out to be my favorite project!
My new pencil holders made from mason jars!

Fire Safety Week

For 'Fire Safety Week' we had the privilege of visiting the Warren Fire Department. Fun times at the station as the firemen and kids had a blast with fire safety! The firemen loved our Stop, Drop, and Roll Crowns and Thank You book we put together for them!

Pumpkin Fun

In the month of October I found this AWESOME Pumpkin Mini-Unit from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten! I loved how the lessons were planned with reading materials to go along with each lesson. It's always fun to introduce a lesson by reading a book! Some of my little ones had never seen the inside of a pumpkin so they were all over this with excitement! The pumpkin investigations went well and we really enjoyed the unit. Here are some pics from the activities!

Scientist Anchor Chart

Ahh, this took me at least an HOUR but I LOVE how this anchor chart turned out!!

Rainbow Writing Sight Word Practice

Hi there! I've created this sample Rainbow Writing Sight Word Practice freebie to help my little ones practice their sight words! This packet allows the students to rainbow write the sight word on the front page and to practice tracing and writing the sight word on the back. When my students are working on this activity, I have them spell out and read each word. They have really been enjoying the practice especially because they get to "rainbow write" the word. The little things that make the little ones happy! I'd like to share this with fellow teachers and would love any feedback on the packet! I will be adding more sight words so look for the complete packet which will be listed for sale over at TeachersPayTeachers soon!

Here are some photos of my students working on their sight word practice activity! On this day we were working on the sight word 'at'.

Here is a video of my students working on the sight word 'at'. They are working on the back side. As they trace and write the words, they are spelling out the word and reading it. When they are all finished they go over each word and practice spelling and reading it. I can't tell you how helpful this has been. When I'm testing them or see them working on their writing, I will notice them spell out the sight words and read them!

Randoms ~ 2013

Over the summer this teacher took up some hobbies! I absolutely loved reaping the benefits of having my first summer as a teacher off! I have a love for fast things and baking. I took up some motorcycle classes as well as a cupcake decorating class. Can't wait to start baking some cool cupcakes for my little kinders this school year!

Taking the class made me more excited about riding! I'm more intrigued now than ever. Next I'm going to look into learning more about the mechanics of a bike. As much as I love riding, I more than likely will only ride on a track somewhere remote. Can't trust these MI drivers!!

This class was so much fun! Not only did I learn how to decorate but I also learned about the different frosting to use and how to use frosting inside the cupcakes!

My para knows me a little too well! This was my 'back to school' gift from her! Gotta love it.

Our first 'Fun Friday' of the school year. The little ones watched Despicable Me and my para made some cupcakes to go with the movie! What can I say... we share a love for baking cupcakes, LOL.

Went to 'Painting with a Twist' with the staff! This was super fun. I look forward to going back. VERY relaxing!

GO TEAM 109! ~ Classroom Reveal

Ahh! The beginning of the school year can be so hectic! I've been meaning to post what I've done in my classroom so far. Totally revamping my room compared to what it looked like before! Wish I had a before and after. I got hired after the school year started last year so I never had the time to really get into setting up the room. Having the summer off this year,  I was picking up stuff all over the place to spice up my room and PINNING of course (my room is totally PIN-spired!)! Finally, I've got it looking how I want it, a fun and engaging learning environment. More pics to come!!

I decided to go with a sports theme this year to promote teamwork, problem solving skills, encouragement, support, efficiency, etc. It touches on so many aspects to promote a diverse, engaging, and effective classroom that is student led.  GO TEAM 109!

This bulletin board has to be one of my FAVORITE boards I've EVER put together! On the baseballs I used our Detroit Tigers colors blue and orange. Gotta rep the D!

This is going to be my Reading Center/Library area. I will be adding an author study and themed books of the month bookshelves and a CAFE board to the wall.

Picked up these awesome bins for my library from Dollar Tree. I will be labeling the bins by genres and themes.

My sports themed Word Wall. Found these awesome letter cards from Mimi's Dollhouse! I put up images of cameras and will be stressing each time we learn a sight word that we take a 'snapshot' and capture the word into our brains.

I am absolutely in love with these polka-dot curtains I am using to cover up open shelving in my classroom. I had a vision and my awesome para went to work! I also, placed all the books and matching stuffed animals I've collected over the years on the top. This is always a big hit with my students and visitors coming into the classroom.

My para found this cute giant-sized Arthur at the public library! The kiddos love him! She also put together the cute little crate seats you see under the table.

I love this bulletin board idea I picked up from one of my favorite bloggers over at A Cupcake for the Teacher. I also picked up these great genre posters from Me Teach Good.

The little ones love going up to the Growth Chart and seeing how tall they are!

Cute coloring pages that I used from Mrs. Miner's Kindergarten Monkey Business for the first day of school.

I bought the splotched design duct tape that I use for the students to stand in number order when lining up.

I'm really excited about my Recycling Center outside of my room! The kids love to go down and sort the recyclables near the office. For the paper I plan on taking the kids on a little "field trip" to the recycling bins in our school parking lot where we will recycle the paper from time to time.

 I'm a big fan of my MI sports teams as you can see! :-) I made these table signs and gave the students "team names"! This year I'm going to try and let the students pick their team names after we come back from holiday break. I'll let them create a logo to go along with the team name they've chosen.

On the other side of the sign I have the team numbers which I found from Learnings a Hoot.