Five for Birthday!

I’m a day late linking up to Five for Friday, but I have a good reason.

(You can link up here at Doodle Bugs Teaching!)

#1- It’s my birthday! :) I’m still young enough to be excited about it.

My kids all sang happy birthday to me spontaneously yesterday, and a couple of them even got or made me gifts and cards. So sweet! (Plus, in FOUR DAYS, I get to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway for my birthday. SO thrilled!!!)

#2 The leprechaun visited yesterday morning, too! (Yes, it was a little late, but we had Spring Break in there.) I made my traps optional for kids this year, but we still had some amazing ones come in.

I wasn’t sure if 3rd graders would still believe that a leprechaun visited, but I gave myself a great alibi, which helped!

#3- We have been focusing on non-fiction informational text this past week, and my kids are devouring it.

Next week we start researching animals to write our own non-fiction books!

#4- Another reason yesterday was awesome?

About 3 quarters of my class got a chance to be on Sparkling or the top of Sparkling yesterday. It’s mostly because I really really needed them to bring something back as soon as possible, and offered to let them clip up twice if they brought it back the next day- and, amazingly, 19/20 remembered it! Still, though, a couple of my kids earned their way to Sparkling for the first time ever, and they were so excited. What a great way to keep kids on their toes on a Friday!

And #5? We got over 90 new (and wonderful) books from Scholastic this week for our classroom, thanks to an amazing opportunity I have next week. My class went crazy over the new books.

Next week, I will be giving Scholastic some feedback about their Book Clubs. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and any suggestions you have for me to take to them! :) If you have a couple of minutes, can you pretty pretty please answer these for me?

- Do you use Scholastic Book Clubs? If not, why not?

- What is your general feeling about Book Clubs this year? Has it changed since last year?

- What feedback have students/ parents given you about the program?

- What do you think of the online ordering system?

- What, if anything, do you do to encourage participation?

- How do you tie technology to literacy in your classroom?

- Do you use Scholastic’s app Storia? If so, what are your thoughts?

- What do you use teacher rewards, bonus points, coupons, etc. for?

- Do you have any other praise, complaints, suggestions, questions, or comments for Scholastic Book Clubs?

I’m going to have a giveaway later this week, and commenting with your thoughts about Book Clubs will help you get more entries- plus, I will be taking your feedback straight to the source to help make Book Clubs work better for you!

Plus… it’s my birthday! Thanks in advance for helping me out! :)

Teacher Must-Haves

Another week already! Didn't the weekend just start?

Little Miss Glamour Goes to Kindergarten is hosting a linky party all about classroom must-haves. I tried to think of this as though I had to pick THE most important things to have, not as a wish list.

1.  Post-It notes are part of what keep me organized. Sometimes to keep from clutter multiplying, I keep them on the block and just fold it up when I need the next page.  I also use Super Sticky Post-Its for some labeling in my room, like on my lunch choice buckets. (Dollar Tree + Post-Its = Cheap! And they've stuck all year!)

2.  Of course, books are a big deal. I'm a new teacher, but I've put a lot of time, energy, and money into making sure I have lots of classroom books- and it is SO worth it. (Tips for books on the cheap? Look here.)

3.  Math manipulatives have been a big one for me. I was an add-on section this year, so I wasn't taking over someone else's room but starting from scratch. I didn't have Unifix cubes, pattern blocks, 3-D solids, place value blocks, or anything like that, and I kept finding things I needed as the year went on. You don't realize how necessary those things are until you teach money and you don't have enough plastic coins!

4.  Chart paper and markers are a must for me. I ran out of chart paper one day and I felt like my teaching was completely different. I use chart paper, we use chart paper together, the kids use chart paper... and good, colorful markers are a must!

Kind of beat up by the time I got a picture, but I was incredibly proud of this one!

Click on the picture to go to my post about this one and get some free pepper writing paper!

Kid-friendly Pledge of Allegiance- Click the photo for my post about it!

5.  Finally, my behavior clip chart. It wasn't my original idea, but I modified my chart to include "Sparkling" at the top by adding glittery scrapbook paper. My students LOVE it. When they reach Sparkling, my students get to sign the Sparkling Hall of Fame, which is on the outside door of the classroom. It's basically just a labeled, laminated black piece of construction paper, but signing with a silver Sharpie makes it exciting! They also take home a sparkly sticker on their newsletter and a certificate. (I usually get 25/ $1 at Target or Dollar Tree.)

The kids love it, and it is SO easy for me. I just have Sparkling certificates filled out and waiting for a name and date at the end of the day. I have Think Sheets for anyone on red, too, where I just fill out name and date and check the rules that weren't followed. I even have a kid whose job it is to record where kids were on a chart for documentation and move the clips back to green (see mini clipboard), so I don't have to do it every day.

The best things about the clip chart are that I get to focus on the positives and that students can always clip back up, so the day is never "over." Plus, it's easy (and inexpensive) for me to manage, and the kids encourage each other so much. (So cute to hear them cheer when someone else reaches Sparkling!)

So, those are my big 5. Post-Its are mostly a splurge to make me happy, but the other 4 are absolutely vital to my teaching!

Thanks, Kristin, for hosting this fun linky party, and to everyone else- link up and give me ideas to splurge on this summer!