Treat bags

Owl treat bags made from scrapbook shape templates and small plastic bags.

A wide variety of colors made bright bags.

More classroom organization

 Owl shower curtain hooks hold flip books on metal rings.

 Flip books hang on a small metal shelf.

This free behavior clip chart can be downloaded here...

http://3rdgradesahoot.blogspot.com/2012/06/freebie-owl-classroom-clip-chart.html

Book Bin Labels

I used Book basket labels for my baskets and shelves from both of these sites. They are free printables!!

Book Basket labels can be printed from this site...
http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/basket_labels.htm

This teacher also has book bin labels
http://it.pinellas.k12.fl.us/Teachers3/gurianb/levelbooks.html

Synonym Shakers

 These Synonym Shakers games were created using free materials from http://sunnydaysinsecondgrade.blogspot.com/2011/09/synonym-shaker-freebie.html

Students match a word on the chart to its synonym inside the bottle.

Floor Tile transformed

 This is a floor tile sample that I spray painted first. I then added "Book of the Month" and little pictures with Mod-Podge. I found the cute over-sized clothespins at Michael's. I added saw-tooth picture hangers on the back and hung with screws for stability.

I will use the groove on the top of the board to stand the "Book of the Month" in. I will then display student work that goes with the book on the clothespins.

2012 Classroom Set-up

 Updated Reading Center. Please look under my "Reading Nook" tab to find links to the free printable labels I used. I bought the baskets at Dollar Tree.

 Computer Station. I use place mats to keep the keyboards from sliding & as a mouse pad.

 Carpet Area. I hope to get a new easel this year!

 A second carpet area & extra computer station under my "Tree of Knowledge"

 Math storage under my SmartBoard. I only had a 24" clearance so I bought shoe racks and the cute storage bins at Big Lots. Please check my Classroom Organization Tab for the free printable manipulative labels.

 The desk next to the shelf is my teacher desk so that my laptop is next to the SmartBoard controls. The old teacher desk facing it has become the student Writing Station.

 This table will be used for small groups during stations and Guided Reading.

This is a view of my classroom from the hallway door.

These cuties are hanging over each station. You will notice the pink, green, and pink Pom-poms (Hobby Lobby) in some other photos. I hung them from the ceiling using ceiling hooks & ribbon. I then added the owl or raccoon cut-outs with printed labels marking each station.

Earth Day activities

Earth Day Pinwheels helped us celebrate this year. Templates can be printed from DLTK kids 

Of course we had to take them right outside for a trial spin!

Book Basket Labels

Book Basket Labels

Free printable labels for the baskets in your reading center!

Fraction Anchor Chart

This poster/anchor chart has been laminated to be reused. During a lesson: In the 1st blank circle I'll add a shaded area that is NOT correctly divided to stress the point that fractions show "equal" parts of a whole. In the area that shows a set, students will write in the fractions to show the number of blue, green, red & yellow crayons. I added a ruler at the bottom to relate fractions to measurement.

Pencil Management

Something as simple as keeping sharpened pencils can make your day with 20+ kids run smoother. They place a broken pencil in the "Needs to be Sharpened" basket and take one from the "Sharpened" basket and continue with their work without disturbing the whole class. 

(I haven't allowed the small handheld pencil sharpeners in my room for years. I can't stand the mess!)

Genre Posters

Beth Newingham's Genre Posters

Classroom arrangement

Student desks are arranged in groups. Student names are on magnetic name cards on the side of each desk all facing the center of the room. (These are for substitutes or other adults who visit the classroom.) Each table has a basket with individual student's book pouches for easy access to reading.

Classroom Library Check-out

"Whooooo's Reading What?"

This is how I keep track of the books checked out from my classroom library. The library card pockets are numbered 1-20. When a student checks out a book, he/she fills out a bookmark with the title and slips it into their numbered slot. When they check it back in, they put the bookmark in the book and put in back in the leveled basket where it belongs. The next time another student wants to check out that book, they can simply take out the previous bookmark and place in their numbered slot. I keep a basket of sliced construction paper and index cards for use as bookmarks.

Science Word Wall

A small corner became home to our Science Word Wall. I make each set of cards as we move into new units.

Compliments Board

This is our "Compliments Board". Any time another adult in the building pays a compliment to my class, we write the compliment down with the date, the name of the adult, and what was said. Once the board is filled with compliments (20), we have a celebration with lunch in the classroom with special treats! The kids love looking at the compliments they've earned and its a quick reminder of how their behavior should be!

Math Word Wall

These are common 3rd grade terms for our Math Word Wall. I'll also post them as a document so they can be printed.

Fiction/Nonfiction

This quick reference poster hangs in the Reading Nook and gives kids a quick reminder of differences between these 2 genres.

Daily 5 posters

Small posters for "Daily 5".Kindertastic Blogspot

Attention Grabbers

Attention Grabbers

DonorsChoose.org

If you've never heard, DonorsChoose.org is a website where teachers can submit a project, choose the materials they will need for the project, and then donors will donate to your project. I gave it a try last month and was pleasantly surprised! My goal was met in just 2 weeks! The whole project from start to delivery took less than 1 month. I received 153 books (mostly nonfiction) and 30 book pouches all for FREE!! Thanks so much to wonderful organizations and foundations who support education!

anchor chart action verbs

Another re-usable anchor chart for Action Verbs.

Lighting

These paper lanterns are one of 9 lamps around my classroom. Curtains, rugs, and lamps make the classroom more cozy and add a sense of security in a place where we spend so much time every day.

special touches

NFL player Darrin Smith came to visit & read to my class! He sent an autographed football card to each student. When our local Little League team won the Little League World Series a couple of star players came to read to my students. They autographed the cover of our local phone book that they were pictured on. Personal framed items like these can make a classroom feel more special.

Decor

Little touches can add to the class room atmosphere. This "Tree of Knowledge" sign is hanging from a branch on my tree. I added branches around the clock to help it meld into my owl and tree theme.

Job Chart

This is my Job Chart. I added the jobs (typed onto labels) on each tree at the bottom.

anchor chart adverbs

I decided to start making re-usable anchor charts. This adverb anchor chart is laminated and the words that answer each question are written with a Vis-a-Vis pen to allow erasing. The students generated the list of words during a lesson. Of course, I will still create K,W,L charts, T-Charts, and Bubble Maps as we go along, but I'll have several of these re-usable anchor charts to save time with some of the Grammar, Reading, and Math lessons.

Paper Bag Narratives

These "Paper Bag Narratives" integrated science into our writing. Students decorated the paper bag to look like themselves. They then wrote a narrative as if they were the paper bag. They had to include different things they could be reused for in order to avoid the garbage dump! The narrative writings were then glued to the back of the bag for display. They had some very creative ideas and some even got into persuasive writing begging to be reused rather than thrown away!

Focus Wall

I'm working on my Focus Wall. I'll add single pocket charts under each heading to slide weekly focus elements in and out to make changing easier.

Student Work Displays

I painted this "Tree of Knowledge" on one wall and added clothespins to display student work. Sometimes I add lights, a variety of work samples, and anchor charts to display the progress through a unit.