Giveaway, Summer To Do List, and a Freebie!

Okay, first things first...I'm doing my first giveaway. Today, I was catching up on one of my FAVORITE shows. Tucker and I had a totally lazy day today, and I watched like 4 episodes of this show. :) I think that was last week's episode but my favorite character said


"Don't go to New York...New York smells like pee and everyone there is rude."


 It made me laugh because a) when I went, I felt like the smell part (in particular) was true...of course not everyone is rude, but they just don't have that Texas charm  b) I just freaking love this character and c)the timing of it was perfect. The first person to comment and tell me what show it's from can have any 3 things in my TPT store that they would like!

Second, I made another freebie today! My kiddos LOVE making lists...I think because they feel like grown ups, and there's no right or wrong answer. A few weeks ago, I picked up a bunch of notepads in the Target dollar section. I plan on letting them use those for lists, but probably not all the time, and not until they're ready to use them appropriately. And by appropriately, I mean not poppin' each other on the head with them or seeing how many sheets they can make one scribble on. :) Until then (and after) I made a bunch of little list templates they can use. It has a line for the word and a box for them to draw the item. This is super important, for me, because I always teach them to express themselves in words and pictures and the activity can be totally differentiated. For my strugglers, they can draw a picture of what would go on their list and try to write any sounds they hear...or possibly just emergent scribbles. For my kiddos who are away above grade level, you could only have them put things on their list that start with a certain letter or have them really focus on spelling the words correctly, looking for them in a dictionary, etc. Anyway, there are 14 of them...you could even use them just as a template for your writing mini-lesson and they can create any kind of list they want. :) You can get those here at my TPT store...remember...they are free! what what?!?!?

Lastly, I think it's about time I start making my End of Summer to do list. I've already done alot for the upcoming year, but I still have SO many projects I want to accomplish before I go back. 

1.Take Home Binder- I want to assemble these before the year starts.  My kiddos don't usually bring in binders, so I will just be picking up some at Wal-Mart...usually they put the black ones on sale for like .83 cents. Sweet! I'm going to make "STRIPE" binders this year...Students Taking Responsibility for Information and Papers Everyday. I can't remember where I got that from, but it's similar to the G.O. binder or Sarah Cooley's BEE binder. Here is a picture of the cover page I made for us. 

They will write their name in the little box. Since the binders I'm getting won't have an insert, this will be inside the binder in a sheet protector and they will have their numbers on the binding. It will have a list of rules for their binder, like "take EXTRA good care of it" and a table of contents. It will also have our 6 weeks behavior calendar and this little sheet to remind parents about our management system.

It will also include their reading log, a communication log, a money/returned forms pouch, a high frequency word list, and a ziploc bag for their guided reading books. Last year, I just had a take home folder, and I was horrible about filling it, checking it, etc. This year, their morning procedure will be to put their binders on my desk, and I will check them while they are working on eating breakfast and their morning work. We send home a Cowboy folder on Thursday with information from the school, so that will have holes punched in and it will be in the binder on Thursdays. 

2. Sticker Chart Poster. I found super cute sticker charts all over this summer...they are packed up or I would post pictures, but those were the easy part. The hard part is figuring our a place for all of them! :) So, when I found this on Pinterest, I thought it was brilliant. The pinterest link doesn't take me anywhere...if this awesome idea belongs to you, let me know! :)

 I actually bought a poster board and had it in the car today, and after Tucker and his puppy friend, Sadie, got in, it got messy hahaha...so I have to get a new one. :) All you have to do is tape them on as they fill them up! I got the smaller ones too, so they should all fit on one poster board. Once they fill it up, they will get to choose a reward from the Wild Rewards Book. <--- That's a freebie! The only one that costs money is using a special supply for the day, and those are so cheap from the dollar section. I also have lots of extra supplies that I've gotten as teacher supplies from my school, extras from previous years, etc. 

3. Those super cute birthday balloons that are ALL OVER pinterest. Not gonna lie, I have forgotten a birthday or two and I felt HORRIBLE! So, in my teacher binder this year, I am putting a big calendar with each kiddos birthday on it. When it's that month, we will add it to our Smartboard calendar for the month. But, I want to have pre-made gifts for them. I picked up crazy straws at the Target dollar section and am just gonna add balloons to them. I would love to write their names and birthdays on them, but our school is super transient, and I won't have a complete class list before the year starts. Usually we lose/gain 4-5 kids by the end of the first week, so I will just have generic ones that they can pick from when it's their birthday. If you haven't seen these, they are way cute, cheap, and easy to store...three very important things to teachers! :) 

   

 Someone (ahem, Keith) isn't quite convinced I need a Silhouette/Criket no matter how much I beg! :) So, I will just be using cute clipart and some scissors. : )

4. Order some new stuff for my babies! :) I have a whole Pinterest Board about things to buy for them, haha. I really have to control myself...I could buy like 10 books every week, and still feel like I don't have enough read alouds. Here's a few things I am gonna try to order this week.  

How cute is that book?! I usually read First Day Jitters and I love it, but I think I need this too! :) I also want to find

 

You can click on any of those books to order them from Barnes and Nobles...I know Amazon has them all too! :) I will also be using my First Days in First Grade packet with them...lots of fun little activities/time fillers for the first few days. I am ALL about authentic, engaging work, and really don't use worksheets at all, if possible, but those first few days there is so much to do and I want to make sure that they feel happy, comfortable, and excited when they start first grade! :)

I also want to get these babies! I probably don't need all 48, haha, but I will try to find a team member or something to split them with me!

I am going to keep pocket chart workstations in them...I like to have 5-6 choices out for them at a time in each station and I think this is a super way to organize them. Plus, they would fit right in a binder. Recording sheets could go right behind them. Once I start organizing all my workstations, I will DEFINITELY post pictures of it. : )

This is like a way long post, hahaha...happy Thursday! It's almost Friday, which means it's almost Saturday, which means it's ALMOST a week until my bridal shower! Yayayay! :)