#2getherwearebetter: Classroom Reveal!!!

Greetings teacher friends!!! It is Katie from Pop into Primary  I am so stoked to once again be linking up with #angley!! This month...it is classroom ReVeAl!!! {Always my favorite posts to look through!!}

Yesterday was my FIRST day of school...and if you have ever watched one of my periscopes you know that I have what could be argued as one of the world's busiest toddlers...so I made a video reveal to save myself LOTS of time. {And it was fun!} Tune in below! Also, check out the links below the video to find the TpT products in my room!

Phonics Flags by Kristen Smith
Bulletin Board clip art by Educlips & Melonheadz
First day of school brag tag
Teacher Toolkit Labels
Read to Self Stamina Chart
Question Word Cards
First Day Snapshot Writing Activity
Mel D.'s Ultimate Writing Center
What do writer's write pencil

Our Teaching Tribe...Product Swap!

Hey, hey, hey friends! Katie Palmer from Pop into Primary here. Thanks so much for hoppin' through our blog hop this morning! I was THRILLED to participate in this product trade-off and was paired with another Palmer....Suzy Palmer from On the Go Teacher Mama.

Suzy has amazing products, especially lots of QR code task cards. Check out her store here. The product I am telling you about today, and am super excited to use it with my kiddos, is 

her Easy Cheesy 3-digit addition with Regrouping Activities. I just KNOW my kiddos will love this. 

Click the picture above to see this product in her store.

Suzy is what I would call a Queen of QR codes! Several of her products include QR task cards, and this one is no exception. Every year my students love QR codes. One student once told me she loved seeing the "magic" when the code turned into a video. {I do QR videos on my math homework.} They take pride in knowing they know exactly how to use the codes {and it is iPad time...oh that beloved iPad time!! :)}

I am STOKED to use these QR task cards with  my kiddos. I am thinking we could use them for a Scoot game, or even at a Math station. {I am trying to implement the Math Daily 3 this year and I think the Easy Cheesy activities will fit into that great!!}

My students will enjoy sneaking around the room like little, quiet mice to solve the problems on the answer sheet and scanning to check their answers...I can't wait!!!

Also included in the Easy Cheesy Activities is a flip flap on the steps for addition with regrouping. How fun to add into a math interactive notebook?

The kiddos can go back and reference the steps whenever they need to if it is in their notebooks! I colored the flip flap, which I sometimes let my little notebookers do, but it would look great printed on colorful paper as well. I will do this flip flap whole group and talk/work it out together. 

And....don't you hate when you download a worksheet, give it to your students, and they have trouble reading the directions or font?? Well that is not the case with the worksheets included in this activity pack. 

Suzy uses nice, large font. My kiddos will love working on this concept...because, and tell me if it is the same for your students, my mathematicians love solving three digit addition and subtraction. Each year they love it! {Anyone else?} I don't know what it is about it, the speed at which they can solve three digit problems, or the regrouping...I am not sure, but they always love it. {I once told a class that we needed to work quickly but carefully on our 3-digit addition. Why? they all asked at once. Because the President called to say he needs the answers....quick! 2nd graders are too fun.}

How to explain this multi-step process to hands-on learners? Suzy has got you covered! In this Easy Cheesy 3-digit Addition pack are not only the flip flaps, but a cut and paste activity! Great for the hands-on kid. {Like me!}

Like I have said a few times...I cannot wait to use this with my 2nd graders this year! So many different options for practicing 3-digit addition and regrouping...there is something for every learner! AND make sure to check out Suzy's other QR task cards!

Thanks for stopping by!! {Make sure to click the picture below to head to the next blog!!}

#2getherwearebetter: BuLlEtIn BoArDs!!!!!

Hey friends!! It's Katie here! I am SO, SO, SO excited to be joining up with my friends Angie and Ashley #angley for the first time! This month we are talking about bulletin boards...and I have to be honest...I have put up my borders and what not...but not my content. BUT...we can talk about it!
BUT FIRST...my little man took his very first pony ride at the county fair this weekend. We weren't sure how he would do with it...but sure thing he was the one yelling in his cute little voice, "YES! YES! Ride!!!" Sorry...had to take a moment to gush about my mommy moments. #teachermommy

First up is the bulletin board in my desk area. I got rid of my teacher desk...but there is a built in area and I use my small group table to plan. BUT..that is for the September 2nd post. {I am PUMPED to read all those classroom reveal posts...squeee!}

I need to credit The Library Fox for my cute, custom mini-me!! Check out here store here.

On this bulletin board I put our curriculum map {that we haven't met to talk about yet...eek!} and any reminders for myself. I used fabric this year on two of my bulletin boards, and will need to get more fabric for the BIG one. I bordered it with tissue paper. I just really like the look {and price} of the tissue paper...it gets kind of poofy. 
{{This is why I changed to fabric....never will use the plain paper again!! Fade alert.}}

My next bulletin board is my birthday board. I used to put gift bags up and write the names of the kiddos on each bag....but last year I decided to print off a blank birthday hat template, let the students color them {and of course attach a cute little pom pom at the top} and glue a color picture of each student's smiling face. My students love when I tell them each year that this bulletin board needs to be completed by them. :) I also used fabric for this board and double bordered it.

I also have what the kids and I call the BIG board. This is where I house my reading and math focus walls as well as my calendar. I change the objectives, grammar, skills, etc.. depending on what we are working on. ALSO...I keep my brag tags hung in the lower part of this bulletin board. I make some of my own {{including personalized name brag tags for each student. This is such an important thing to do...I will never again have to investigate to figure out who left their brag tags on the back counter.}}but I also own Anige's from Lucky Little Learners.

I am also a huge fan of using non-traditional space as bulletin boards. I have a huge whiteboard in the front of my classroom and tape up paper and border to use as a bulletin board. This year it will house my CAFE board (new to me this year!!). I don't have a picture of that because due to the MN humidity it fell down!!
I use the area below our beloved classroom tree {more about that in the classroom reveal post} as a bulletin board of sorts. I put up our reading strategies as we learn them. {Soon to be a reading strategy poster set in my store...I've been working hard on those!!}

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Best back to school tip!

Hey, hey friends!! Thank for stopping by the blog!! Christina from Hanging Around in Primary and I are jointly hosting a Back to School tips linky!! We would LoVe if you would join us big and little fish bloggers. :)

My best back to school tip is have your classroom management system ready to go!! Know it like the back of your hand!! Be ready to answer parent questions about it and know your expectations of students (and consequences) right away. (Be ready to BE CONSISTENT!!)

I use a few different classroom management strategies in my classroom, and to tell you the truth the strategies aren't always the same....you have to mold and shape your management routine to each class, as you get to know them. BUT...I do consistently use the following:

Whole Class: 

We are a TCIT school. (TCIT stands for Teacher-Child Interaction Training.) TCIT is ALL about positive redirection and praise. You can read more about that here. TCIT doesn't require any materials printed or displayed in the classroom, but it does take some getting used to and training yourself to say the right things.

The other whole class management method I use is behavior bingo. It goes like this. I have hundreds chart and two buckets filled with the numbers 1-100. If the class is "caught being good" OR someone in class does something nice/respectful for someone else, or someone is caught bucket filling I will pick numbers out of the first bucket. I color that number in on the hundreds chart and put those numbers in the second bucket. (When there is a bingo I move all the numbers back to the first bucket.) Before we get a bingo, my class votes on their prize. I choose FREE prizes  mostly, hat day...eat lunch in the classroom...etc. I need to apologize for the pic below...from my old classroom in my old school, three years ago!! Another back to school tip:Take pictures!! #oops #wheresmycamerawhenineedit

I have a much more detailed post about behavior bingo HERE. Want a behavior bingo board FrEeBiE?? Click below. (If you know me, you know I am OBSESSED with birds...so of course I had  to put a little bird on it. :) )

Individual Management: 

I know some people won't agree with me...but I am a firm believer in the clip chart, and that is because I only use it in a positive way. In my classroom it is way more about the clipping up (WHICH CAN LEAD TO THE GLITTER CLIP PEOPLE!!!) than it is about the clipping down. If a student does need to clip down, I NEVER point it out to the whole class, sure a few kids might look over at the chart later and notice Bobby moved his clip down, but there is no public shaming. Also, I make sure to LAY THE PRAISE ON THICK the next day for a student who might have clipped down the day before...you cannot believe their giddiness when they make it off the chart the next day and I end up wearing their clip. There are TONS of clip charts available on TpT and online. Below is the one I use...#birdobsession

So...in the end...my tip is have your classroom management plan mapped out WAY before those first little faces walk in your door for Open House. If you are a new teacher, talk to your mentor teacher and see what works best for them...clip chart, class dojo, principal's office (hope not, haha!) use what is best for you!! AND...be sure to link up with us!! I can't wait to read your tips!

Thanks for stopping by,

An InLinkz Link-up

Oh Snap....It's almost August!!

Greetings! I am THRILLED to be linking up with the amazing Teacher Deals, Dollar Steals blog for the new monthly link up. Just a quick post from me today, but I COULDN'T WAIT to share my latest product with you. For a LONG TIME I have been wanting to ditch my overstuffed file folders. Also...there MAY or MAY NOT still be files from two teachers before me...

I have been seeing recent posts of bloggers cleaning out and cleaning up their file cabinets. It is my dream come true to open those bad boys up and see neat, orderly binders. I plan on putting my binders spine up in the file cabinets. 

My Math files are the WORST. Just messy and PACKED. I am going to purge a lot of the old files and put the rest in the binders. Which leads me to the perfect products to create such math binders. (ON SALE until I finish adding the extra pages!!)

(To see the product click HERE or on the pic above!)

I included the Common Core strands for grades K-5!! Here are some of the covers. 

Spines for two different size binders!

I also created binder covers for 2nd Grade Everyday Math. (I know..specific..but I KNOW there are others who use it!!) I have 12 binder covers, one for each unit. This will be a growing product as I will be adding game dividers, etc. (The common core binder set will also grow as I add strand dividers!)

Click HERE or on the pic to check these covers out!

 Thanks for stopping by!

Click to get back to the linkup!

Daily 5 Chapter 4: So.....What do I need to get started??

Hello again!! I hope you all had a GrEaT 4th!! We went to a wedding but our little man decided it was time to leave after dinner. (What can I say...he is 1 1/2 and seems to dictate how things go these days.) 

Anywho...we are back to our book study of the amazing book, The Daily 5 {2nd Edition}. I am thrilled to be co-hosting this chapter with Rideaway with Mrs. Ridgway. Chapter 4 is actually one of my favorite chapters!! It talks about all of the cool stuff you will want in your classroom to really get on a roll with D5 this year!

As the sisters say in this chapter, launching the Daily 5 shouldn't cost you your classroom budget! Here are the essentials, most of which you can find easily and are not expensive! {You can also use classroom budget $ if you want.}

1. Chimes {Any kind of quiet signal.}

This is the signal your students will respond to all school year. It tells them, "This choice time is over and you need to meet back in the meeting area." I have used a few different things including a bell {from Dollar Tree}, a maraca, and believe it or not, spoons...like the instrument. {That was my first year of D5, the spoons totally got the kids amped up...so that is a NO GO.} For next year I am thinking about two options: buying actual wind chimes I could strum with my hand, or buying a doorbell. I have a few teacher friends who use a wireless doorbell like the one below for just this purpose. {Available at Lowe's.}

2. Chart Rack or Interactive Whiteboard:

I am sure a lot of you have either a Smart Board or a Promethean board. Some teachers choose to make all of their I-charts electronic and project them onto their interactive whiteboard. I think this is a good idea, and of course it saves paper, but I like my students to be able to see my I-charts all the time so I use paper. I don't have a chart rack, so I tape up a large piece of construction paper to my whiteboard.{I am talking about the BIG mamma jamma...do you know what I mean? Like 18 x 24} I make the I-chart, fill it out for the kids, then later either type or write it on the I-charts I have created for my classroom. Get that Freebie here or click on the picture.

3. Tools, not Toys: This is just a tub of stuff to keep your "barometer kids" on task. {You know the ones...the ones that will break stamina first, that will try to make their best friend laugh by making ridiculous faces..etc...} Some ideas of things to put in this tub are timers, pattern blocks, Legos, or alternative reading materials. {The extra special, highly coveted books like I spy, World Records, etc..}
4. Book Boxes: Your students are going to need a place to keep their self-selected, good fit books. I used some classroom funds and ordered 25 of these bad boys.

I know other teachers who get those great baskets from the Dollar Tree, and others who use magazine boxes. It is totally up to you! I went with the Really Good Stuff book bins because I wanted something durable to last a long time. 

5. A gathering place: Your students need to know where to go when you ring your quiet signal that we discussed above. Some teachers like their kiddos to meet back at their desks but in primary land we usually are up front on the floor. Here was my gathering place last school year:

This was our alternative gathering area in the back of the room...when we needed a change!

The only pic I could find of our main gathering area! Sorry!! I would stand or
sit in my director's chair, the kiddos sit on the floor. 

The last two things they discuss are I-charts and your classroom design. {We already talked about I-charts. They can be just you writing on paper, electronic, OR you can download mine from TpT. You will find LOTS of I-charts and posters for D5 on TpT!}

Your classroom can be designed in lots of way. I like an open, airy feel with LOTS of areas for kiddos to read and work. I have been toying with the idea of alternative seating. Of course I got this idea from the sisters!! They mention low tables, whiteboard tables, standing tables etc....I just MIGHT have to experiment this year!
Have a great week!

An InLinkz Link-up

TpT Seller Challenge #3: Make your MaStErPiEcE!!

I am so thrilled to be linking up with Teach.Create.Motivate, Third in Hollywood, Peppy Zesty, teacherista, and Sparkling in Second for their TpT Seller Challenge....how amazingly motivating this has been! For my masterpiece I finished installment #2 of my Word Work Activity Booklets. These are an idea I had at the end of this school year and only was able to use a couple of them with my students....they LOVED them!!!!!

This will be an ever-growing product. (I will be adding short a and short i activities soon!)

Let the motivation juices keep flowing!! :)