Classroom Tour

I intended to post photos of my classroom last week, but life got in the way...

Now my daughter is settled in college,

Back to School night has come and gone,

and I finally have a chance to catch up!

I wish I had taken photos before school started when everything was "just so," but here's how it really looks after nine days of school....  Note:  there will be no photos of my desk :)

I am very happy with my new student book boxes (on the top of the library shelf).  I got the idea from PreKPages.  They were plastic ice containers (about two dollars a piece) at Walmart. The clipchart is from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten.

The photo doesn't really show my interlocking foam squares from Five Below:

They do tend to "scoot around" on the carpet during center time, but I am still happy with them.  Today a student had a nosebleed and I was able to quickly remove the individual square for cleaning.  

I borrowed the book cover banner idea from KinderCraze.  

I recovered my two crates and added two more.  Lowe's cuts the lumber to size for free with purchase of the lumber. They serve as student seats for the guided reading table and puppet storage.

The upper cubbies are too high for the kids to use, so I put these cloth drawers from Target in them.  I use them to store all the school supplies. (The number posters are from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten.)

I LOVE the new tables in my room.  I splurged on the chair pockets from Really Good Stuff.  The kids keep their consumable reading texts and math notebooks in them.  They have two pencils and a pink eraser in the green zipper bag (which is attached with Velcro). There is also a slot for student name plates.  We also have table caddies that match the colors around the tables (for crayons, glue, scissors, etc.).

Here's my alphabet banner upclose again.  It makes me happy.

This is our prayer table.  The Jesus Loves You bulletin board is left over from last year.  Each child cut out a heart and wrote his/her name on it.  The laminated tissue paper cross is my example of the ones we made last Easter.  

Blessings,

Eilis

Classroom 2014-15

All my classroom "Pinning" is starting to become a reality....

I made this alphabet banner by cutting card stock into triangles with a paper cutter, gluing on letters, and then laminating.  I used a two hole punch before stringing the pendants.  These pictures don't really show how much this banner cheered up my plain windows.

I used the 4 inch Sorbet Letters

 Amazon Affiliate Link

And these are the numbers that I cut out by tracing around an old set of numbers...Literally "Old School," but kind of fun to create.

Stay tuned for a complete tour of my classroom next week.

Hugs,

Eilis

A Happy Find for my Classroom Floor

I'm linking up my back to school find with Kickin' it in Kindergarten's Teachers Be Shoppin' Linky.

I found these 23 inch interlocking foam floor squares for 3 dollars each at Five Below.  Five Below is kind of like a dollar store.  Everything they carry is either 1,2,3,4, or 5 dollars.  It is pretty new to me, but I thought it might have something for my classroom.  Did it ever?!!!  I bought 25 (they are sold individually), so I can either set them up in a 5x5 square or a 4x6 rectangle.

I had similar foam squares in a previous classroom but they were in primary colors.  (They came in sets and were a little better because they came with strips to make the outsides straight.)  I love having a square for each student to sit in at carpet time.  Plus, these will cover a lot of the ugly fraying seam in the carpet of my classroom. And, these squares are in the colors that I am using in my classroom this year!  Happy Teacher.

If you are interested in seeing my Target and Walmart back to school finds from last week, check HERE and HERE.

Blessings,

Eilis

Monday Made It

I'm joining the Monday Made It link up at 4th Grade Frolics today.  While all my ideas are borrowed from blogs and Pinterest...

I'm still really happy that I am making them into realities!  And it is only July 21st!

     The frame for my students to hold while I take their first day photos.  I had this black plastic frame 

            on hand because it had fallen of a wall and the glass had broken.  I also purchased the letters on 

            clearance at Hobby Lobby years ago intending to use them in my classroom.  Well... I finally am.

      Pails for sharp and dull pencils.  The buckets and stickers are all from the Dollar Spot at Target.

            My classroom is going to be a little bit beach this year.  

                     Paper plates with colored dots for subitizing practice.

Hugs,
Eilis

Happy Monday Freebie

I LOVE Mondays - during summer vacation...
Don't you? !

I've just finished a cute printable for my classroom and will be offering FREE in my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop until September 1.

If you print it, please follow my shop and/or like the GrowinginPreK Facebook page.  I have over 900 likes...please help me reach 1000.

I have long admired the "In our classroom ..," signs all over Pinterest, but wanted a version that my young students would be able to "read" early in the school year. As much as I love the "we do" phrase in many of these signs, I want to model correct grammar for my ESL learners.

I have included 5 of my classroom rules (We are good listeners; We try our best; We follow directions quickly; We are kind friends; We take turns) and two optional signs:  We pray together and We love books. I also couldn't decide between "In Our Class" or "In Our Classroom," so I included both.

Also, you may need to choose "landscape" when printing this file.  When I printed it without choosing landscape, I ended up with a small version on portrait.

I love to read your comments!

Hugs,
Eilis

A Little Science

I have always wanted to have a science center located near a window AND with room for a fish. Drum Roll Please.... Here it is...

The kids had already grown beans (and studied plants) in the fall with the previous teacher.  I was a little bummed.  My blog is named Growing in PreK and K because I LOVE to do all the plant stuff... so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a rooting a sweet potato in the science center.  No real roots yet.  I'll keep you posted.  Beta (original huh?) is doing just fine. He actually swims around a lot more than I expected from a beta fish.  He likes to hide under his bridge sometimes (wonder why?...)

The rest of the items are my go to PreK items:  discovery bottles, winter science books, items to look through, and some found nature items.  I look forward to adding more as my students learn how to handle these materials.

Our science lesson last week covered three types of clouds.  I wanted to make it more hands-on, so I had the children "make" the cloud types out of cotton balls, write "clouds," and add labels.

Hope you're having a good week!

Eilis

A Peek into my New Classroom (and a FREEBIE)

I've been in my new classroom for two weeks now.  At the end of last week, our math program jumped into the numbers twenty to thirty.  Many of my students speak English as a second language and were not grasping the idea of ten unit cubes being equal to one ten rod, etc.  I LOVE math games, but couldn't find one to help us through this.  So, I came up with this one:  Race to 30.

The kids loved trading in ten unit cubes for one ten rod.  The goal of the dice game is to be the first player to  accumulate three ten rods.  It is free to print at both my Teachers Notebook and TeachersPayTeachers shops.  I'd love to hear if you find it useful.

I am working on lots of fun math songs and activities.  I hope to have them available at both shops soon.

I have also been very busy nesting in my new classroom.  It looked pretty sad when the last teacher moved out and the Christmas bulletin board was down...

There were boxes of wonderful manipulatives, but.... they had all been dumped in together!

After some organizing...

It is coming together :)

The Math Center

The ABC/Word Work Center

The New Word Wall

Colorful Storage in the Cubbies (This is the area above the part the students use)

Many of the printables are from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten.  I was inspired to add the cloth boxes from Target after drooling over Kinder-Craze.  I have lots more to share, but that's it for now.

Hugs,
Eilis