Sunday Smorgashbord-TpT store advice? Favorite Pins and Snapshot Saturday/ Stutelage Innovations!

I know it's Sunday and I'm a little late for Favorite Pins Friday and Snapshot Saturday but I was out of town all weekend for the 4th of July. I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of JULY! Share some of your 4th of July attire in the comments below. So what better way to put all these things together than SUNDAY Smorgasbord?!?! Thank you to Michelle at Fab u lous in first she also has Twelve days of Christmas in July giveaways! Check it out :)

As an update--I am still working on my TpT store. Does anyone have advice in order to get started!? I want to thank Erin over at I'm Loving Lit for her amazing Summer Planning Giveway! I am not one of the stops, but I definitely went on a BLOG Hunt and found some more AMAZING blogs to follow :) I already logged all of my Freebie Packs too! thank you!!



Don't forget to check out the jewelry at 40% at Chloe and Isabel!  http://www.chloeandisabel.com/boutique/aurorapierangelo/2b81be

The sale ends tonight!! Add that pop of color to your summer style. You don't want to miss out! 








Please don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin!
I know I am new to the blogging world--but follow me and as soon as I get my TpT up and running I will have giveways and more!

4th of JULY-- celebrated in Buffalo with some fireworks! They were beautiful!

Now on to even more linky parties!

 What a genius idea. Grilled cheese roll-ups. Fun and easy for kids (and adults!) almost like a mozzarella stick!

 I LOVED this and want to make it for my classroom! A "Where are we?" sign to let others know where your class is!

 Who doesn't need a password tracker? I ALWAYS seem to write down my passwords to things on post it notes and never remember where they are. Well now I can keep this sheet in my planbook and I will always be able to access it quickly!

 Isn't this idea absolutely adorable?! For any party or event these mini cupcakes baked right into ketchup cups is perfect!!!

 When I saw this pinspiration about an author study I feel in love! I love the idea of a little corner with all the books on display! What great accessibility for students to read these books and learn about an author!

Thank you to The First Grade Parade for this link up!

Thank you Miss Nelson at Run! Miss Nelson got the Camera
I love this idea of capturing moments :) I wanted to share a few with you from this past week/weekend.

 On Friday Night I went to Jam in the Valley where Dierks Bentley, Scotty McCreery and Chris Cagle all played. It was an amazing show!! I love summer country concerts and listening to live music. Have you been to any concerts or shows this summer?

 Patriotic Nails ready to go for the 4th of JULY festivities :) Red and White Stripes and Blue with sparkles to look like stars!

Here is a picture of one of my dogs. His name is Riley-- he is 13 years old! He is sitting on my parents bed (I was dog sitting while they were in Florida) He curled up right near the pillows, pushed all the clean laundry onto the floor and cuddled in for a nice nap...until I woke him up for the picture! haha it's okay --he fell right back to sleep when I left. Isn't he the cutest dog!?




check back here tomorrow for Monday Made It- you will fall in love with this idea! :) 
** brought to you by Stutelage Innovations** Click the link to find out more about this amazing business that provides tutoring, party planning, community programs, summer camps and more!

Score a Great Sale! Check it out! Chloe and Isabel Jewelry

Hey! I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July! I wanted to write this  post before the weekend is over so that you could SCORE A GREAT SALE for the 4th of July WEEKEND!

Get all these great summer looks for 40% off. Click the links below to go directly to the website or click HERE! Great summer gifts or the perfect pop of color for your summer outfit :)

When you check out make sure to use: Style Closet Scoring a Great Sale
And Merchandiser: Aurora Pierangelo


http://www.chloeandisabel.com/boutique/aurorapierangelo/2b81be

Workshop Wednesday

Okay-- i just had to write another post!! I am loving the Workshop Wednesday linky. So I am linking up today with Ideas by Jivey. Bare with me here as I explain things in my classroom ( I wish I had a picture for everything I am about to talk about!!) I am home for the summer--2 hours away from my classroom because I did not want to pay $1,000 week for my apartment over the summer. Yikes. But every time I write a post--I wish I was in my classroom to take a picture! I am going back this month so I will be sure to add back to this post for a throwback Thursday linky!

I am also going to talk about Writing Workshop (since my last post was about Reading--literacy would not be complete without writing!). My students have a chance to write every single day in their writer's notebooks. At the beginning of the year I ask my students to purchase the black/white composition notebooks. We take some time at the beginning of the year talking about our writer's notebooks and what we will put in them. We do a couple lessons on getting ideas and writing an "expert list" topics that we know a lot about. That way--when we get into the swing of writer's workshop--I don't have a student coming up to me saying "I don't have anything to write about." I can simply say..go back into your writer's notebook and find the ideas or expert list page. Problem Solved!

So here are some older pictures of my writing center in my classroom. It doesn't look like this now but I will update with pictures when I can get them! On the same bookcase as my supplies the front of it (which I don't have a picture of) shows the writing process Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing are the ones that I use to match the poster on the wall. The graphics are pencils that I laminated and wrote the steps on. Each student has their own star with their name on it and they move the start to whatever step they are on. That way, I can keep track and they can keep track of the writing process. Students have access to this area at all times so grab paper or supplies throughout the day.  At my school we use Step- Up to Writing, however, I also like to include 6+1 Traits of writing (Voice, Organization, Ideas, Conventions, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency) using VOICES (as seen on my back wall) really helps my students focus on a specific writing trait. We use our notebooks for the lesson as well as drafting our own ideas before publishing on the "nice" paper as my students like to call it.

 Here is the bookmark for Step Up to Writing.

 Here are the different resources for 6+1 Traits of Writing!!

What do you use for Writer's Workshop?? I would love to hear your ideas!

Ten Pin Linky- Reading Ideas AND Win, Loss, Cost New Linky, Bloglovin

Today I am linking up with Ashley from Just Reed to talk about my favorite thing..Reading!!Also these ideas have come from PINTEREST--which we all know I'm obsessed with!

It is going to be hard to get down to 10 favorite reading pins when my Classroom Ideas board has over 600 pins! Now that I have a blog and have more ideas to share--I may start splitting up my boards into better categories (maybe a new project on the to-do list!)


My absolute favorite Reading Organizational program is The Daily 5, which if you don't know anything about it--you should really get on it. It is AMAZING. It's not a new program to teach reading, it is a structure to organize what you are already doing in your classroom. It builds up your student's stamina for reading so that you can conference and teach small group skills/strategy work (guided reading as well).

To go along with what I said before about building Stamina...this anchor chart is perfect!

 

The other part to The Daily 5 is CAFE...this is a wonderful resource for teaching strategies in reading. CAFE- Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expand Vocabulary

There are so many different strategies it becomes like a CAFE menu :) LOVE IT

But ontop of that is teaching SCHEMA--- all the information we know in our brains :)

The next pinspiration is "Look what we're reading!" I LOVE displaying the books that my students are reading in the classroom. Here is one way to do it-- when I taught 4th grade part-time I had one of those tri-fold presentation boards with the same look as below. My students wrote on an index card, the name of the book, the author, fiction/nonfiction, a summary of the book, and what they rated the book! They loved it! It was also great for students to look at each others cards to see what books everyone is reading and to give them ideas for a new book!

In my classroom library, I have a whole section of "Character Education" books. I believe very strongly in using books to talk about many different topics that come up in students lives. Topics related to anger management, empathy and problem solving are all incorporated into my classroom library: here is a picture of 75 books that build character.

One of my FAVORITE pics that I somehow always go back to look at is this:

I LOVE LOVE the little classroom library nook. This summer I AM making those crate seats. I bought all the material last summer--but never got to it! I will do it this summer. I love how the books are organized and the cover is faced out so the students can easily see them.

Another must have for Daily 5/ CAFE are BOOK BOXES. Sooo many fun and creative ways to design these for your classroom. Here are some pins that are my favorite

I can't talk about reading without talking about the Common Core Standards. This year I Can Statements will be a huge part of my classroom up on the front board. These are the statements that aligned to the standards for each subject.

How cute is this!!!

What a great idea to display New Books or Books about the topic you are currently learning!!

Last but certainly not least-- I can't talk about reading without talking about technology whether its the computer or an Ipad....Scootpad is a great ELA/Math App aligned with the common core. You can set up your whole classroom and group them by level. Students will take practice quizzes and tests based on their level. The next picture is a fluency app to score WPM. The last picture is the Confer App--wonderful for teachers to use when conferring with students individually or in small groups! Check them out! 

Okay so now I am going to link up again! There are just sooo many fun things to do today :)

Win, Loss, Cost-- What a fun idea! This is a new linky party and I am linking up with Digital: Divide and Conquer and Third Grade Galore to share with you one win, one loss and one cost this week!

Win: My friend won tickets to Jammin in the Valley in Buffalo on Friday (she wins almost everything on the radio to every concert possible haha) So because I get to go I am calling it a WIN  ..so we will be seeing Dierks Bentley with Scotty McCreery and Chris Cagle in concert! Woo again my obsession with country music and summer concerts!

Loss: Hmm well it is not necessarily a loss--but I NEED to start on my TpT store. Right now (and yes I did just start this process) I have NOTHING in it :( --I really want to get started on this especially over the summer. But most importantly I want to share all my ideas with you! I don't know if I am nervous about it--but I am not sure exactly how to get started. So if any of you TpT fanatics out there want to help me out--I would truly appreciate it :) Any tips on how to get started, how to create those fantastic, cutesy designs etc. Thank you!

Cost:  Well I am super excited about this..Loft.com has 60% off SALE ITEMS...that is better than the employee discount :) you should really check it out! Also--this week I started getting new things for my classroom (target dollar bins, michaels dollar bins, dollar tree)---see a pattern?! LOVE supplies for 1.00.  I bought some new super cute buckets--that I use for Marble Bucket (behavior program), supplies, and all other daily 5 activities I can think of! I use the accordian pocket folders for student study cards and organizational tools for small activities. The chalkboard clips are new! I found these at Michael's and absolutely love them (for school AND home) I can label anything and keep organized!

Okay -- I do have to ask to PLEASE follow me on Bloglovin (I have an icon at the top of my page near facebook, twitter, tpt, instagram etc. ) I am new to the blogging world and trying to get as many followers as possible! Thanks for the support :) Click HERE for an easy Link! I would have a giveaway-- but like I said before I haven't set up my TpT yet :(

Trending Closet/ Trending Classroom/ Score a Great Sale

Check Out my NEW pages Trending Closet, Trending Classroom and Score a Great Sale!

Here you will find everything that is "trending" for your closet and your classroom! The links will always be at the top of my blog! 

July 1st and my First Monday Made It--pinterest obsessed!

Monday July 1st and my FIRST Monday Made it-- a lot of firsts today :)

Since I just started my blog last week, I am linking up with my first Monday Made It with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics I love this idea and wanted to share some inspiration I had before even starting a blog. I absolutely LOVE pinterest and made many gifts from there for the end of the year. Super cute ideas some of which I have pictures from and will link back to where I got the idea so you can take a look there too!
Being a FIRST year teacher-- I wanted to make sure I thanked some people! Starting with my "pod." I worked in the 6th grade pod and these ladies were such a wonderful help throughout my first year, especially Morgan-- who was in her 3rd year of teaching and was able to answer any question that I had!! Thank you!! Marge and Mary were very experienced teachers and were able to help me out in that way-- so I go the idea from Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching you should check out this fun easy gift for teachers!

This picture frame post it holder was such a cute idea-- I couldn't pass it up! I went to get 3 small plastic picture frames (you can get them at the Dollar Tree). Colorful Post It Notes, some glue, sharpie and colorful scrapbooking paper! I just wanted to do something simple, but with a pop of color! I loved the pinks/oranges together in this scrapbook paper so that was my inspiration! I secured the post-it notes with a little glue to the photo frame. I cut the paper to fit inside of the frame and just wrote the teacher's names on the front with a sharpie marker!


The next gift I made were for the two secretaries in our main office. Izzy (main office) and Kathy (special education department) were incredible this year and answered any questions that I might have had.I got this idea again from PINTEREST---Erin over at Making Memories with your Kids gave me the idea for this awesome printable! I loved the idea of a water bottle for summer and of course the delicious Starbursts inside!

For the two teacher assistants in my room, I found this AMAZING idea over at What the Teacher Wants I first LOVED the printable to go along with the pitchers and that inspired me to find colorful pitchers to go with it! I purchased these at Wal Mart. Inside the pitchers I put a Country Time Lemonade Mix and 2 lemons for an extra touch. Both Cherry and Cathy loved them and thought they were sooo cute! (I would have to agree!)

Last but not least I made these gifts for my principal and cse chairperson. It was my first attempt and creating and although I think I could have done a better job--it was a good try and they both really appreciated them :) I can't find the link to where I got the Pinspiration--but here is a picture and as soon as I find it I will link it back here. I know it was a combination of a couple of blogs! so thank you!! This is a picture of Mel's (a little blurry-I am sorry!)

Now my favorite gifts were obviously the ones I made for my 6 WONDERFUL students. I wanted to give my students something to enjoy over the summer and really remember what a terrific year we had together and of course how hard they worked. These six students don't come from a lot at home and don't have as many opportunities as some others. They are the 6 greatest kids you will ever ever meet!! Some of them I will have again next year, however, 3 will be moving on to the middle school and I will miss them soooo much!

Teri over at A Cupcake for a Teacher  inspired this next gift. I first saw it on Pinterest and was absolutely in love with the design and the idea! I went to the dollar store that day and found 6 krazy straw water bottles, grabbed 6 kool aid packs at Wegmans and printed off the printable from HERE. This is how they turned out-- pretty cute right? My students loved them and filled the water bottles up with at the water fountain right away!

I also found this on--you guessed it---pinterest. The printable came from Me and My Insanity blog. I didn't want to get whole packs of marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate so I divided up into 6 little ziplock bags and stapled the printable to the bag! Easy and simple and a delicious summer treat :)

 

Here are both the gifts together! 

I also made my students Bookmarks-- for summer reading! Reading was a very important aspect of my classroom community this year (as I am sure it is with all of yours)-- It was a struggle at the beginning of the year, students who are not motivated to read and are 3-4 grade levels behind, do not even want to pick up a book! So-- to get my students to enjoy reading I used the DAILY 5 and CAFE (which I will be blogging about at a later post) to pick good-fi t books and build up my students reading stamina. By the end of the year my students loved to pick up books-- from the classroom library--which I am obsessed with! (Again at a later post)-- But I didn't want the reading to stop on June 19th when they walked out of the door for the summer...so here was my idea. 

**By the way-- I love that when I write one post-- I already have ideas flowing for future posts! LOVE IT!**

Summer Reading is Cool Bookmark-- that looks like a Popsicle!  I found the idea from Pinterest and it linked to this blog Tip Junkie and summer crafts and activities! I LOVED this idea so I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up 6 books with summer as the main focus around my students independent reading level. I printed and colored the bookmarks to look like the Bombpops--one of my summer favorites as a kid!

Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer and Magic Tree House Summer Sea Serpent were the two best picks!

Last gift of the year was inspired again by Pinterest and The Very Busy Kindergartner Since I was a self-contained classroom of 4th 5th and 6th graders-- I needed something to give them that showed they were still going on to the next grade level (even though I would still have the 3 students going into 5th and 6th grade) the other 3 students will be going to the middle school in 7th grade. I went to the grocery store and bought 6 $1 individual containers of goldfish and printed the printable from HERE -- I loved this one specifically because I was able to do all 3 grade levels without a problem, so thank you!! But there are so many variations of this gift that they are all so wonderful!

All of these gift ideas were found on pinterest and now with my blog, I am glad I get to share them and give credit to the blogs I found them from!