Showing posts with label Forest Animals Theme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forest Animals Theme. Show all posts

Classroom Reveal

My goal was to have my classroom completely set up as of Friday afternoon.  I was close.  Soooo close.  When I went in to school today I was a woman on a mission: finish the physical set up and start downloading those TpT purchases I made during the big sale.  I am happy to report that I accomplished both.  Yippee!!

I don't know about you, but I just love looking at other people's classrooms.  It's fun to see how they have set up their space, decorated it, stay organized, and so on.  With that said, I hope you enjoy looking at my own photos.  Warning: there are lots of pictures in this post!

This is the "good work" board inside my classroom.  I cover my boards with fabric, not butcher paper.  In case you're wondering, if your board is 4' x 8' you'll need 2 2/3 yards to cover it (you will actually end up trimming off a bit).


I made the border out of fabric as well.  I bought 2 1/2 yards of green polka dot fabric and cut it into 3 inch wide strips. Then, I scrunched and stapled .  It took a very long time (and about a half a box of staples) to do one board and I wanted to abandon ship halfway through the first one.  I persevered, and I'm glad I did because I love the border!  Next year, though, I plan to use my sewing machine to create a ruffle.  It should be WAY faster.

This is my Phonics/Writing Wall.  You don't see it pictured, but I have a few writing posters displayed to the left of the letter clusters posters.  We teach Saxon Phonics which uses coding.  These posters are a must because the students need to be able to refer to them on a daily basis.


Below the phonics wall is my classroom library.  The books are organized into different categories and are color coded.  I store classroom supplies on top of the bookshelves: pencils, crayons, paper, glue, etc.


On this next wall space I displayed some story element posters.  The space is so awkward because of the racks (that NEVER get used) and it's always tricky to decide on what I want to put there.  I really like this set up though!  I love my clock labels.  I made them last year when Amy Lemons shared them on her site.  You can get them in her TpT store as a free download.


Below the rack is my Fast Finisher Activity Corner.  The students will be able to choose from the items in this area whenever they have free time.  To the right of this is our recycle box.  These things are all sitting on top of the cubbies.  I don't call them mailboxes, I call them cubbies.  Don't know why, they're really just drawers!  Anyway, I found these drawer sets at Costco my first year of teaching and I am so glad I snatched them up because they have lasted forever!!


This will be my birthday display. I finally found a use for the front of my desk!  I will take pictures of the students in groups (i.e. all the January bdays together).  Each student will hold a number indicating their birthday.  I will glue the photos to the squares.  I made the squares out of scrapbook paper by cutting each piece down to 8 x 8 inches. I made the labels, printed them out, and glued them on.  If you are interested in receiving a set of the labels, you can grab them here.


This is my classroom jobs display board.  I use library pockets to label each job (which I still need to do).  As you can see, not all of my students have a job at once.  Those students who do not have a job are "on vacation."

This is the math wall. 

My behavior chart (aka: The Clip Chart).  I made this one to replace my dorky version from last year. By dorky, I mean it was boring because it didn't have polka dots, or a bow.  I made it more cutesy and I love it! I will add the clips on Friday when my class list is as finalized as it can get.


My calendar board.  This board is fully operational and is used on a daily basis.  More on that to come.  I really need a cuter chair!  The basket next to the boring chair holds a hefty stash of read alouds and the cube organizer holds all of the calendar materials.  I made the polka dot curtains last year when my kiddos were being blinded by warped blinds. They aren't perfect, but they add a homey touch.


This is our hallway bulletin board.  Each month we display a new set of work.  My space is a bit awkward.  One, it is small because I share the wall with the fourth grade teacher next door.  Two, there is a counter (you can kind of see it in the picture) in front of this space so I can't hang stuff too low (although, at times, this can't be avoided).  This is why my little forest critters are all hovering near the top of the board.  No one would see them down below!


Lastly, my objectives board:


Well, there you have it, my classroom.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

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Classroom Theme Linky

I'm linking up with Corinna at Surfin' Through Second to share my classroom theme for next year. Classroom themes can be as easy, or as complicated as you like.  I think I usually land somewhere in the middle.  I usually pick a theme with a specific color scheme.  This year, I am doing a forest animal theme using chocolate brown, green, light blue and pops of yellow. And, I'm pretty excited about it!

Here is a look at the character accent pieces I plan to hang around my room.  I will set up a "scene" on my hallway bulletin board and the rest will go in my room in various places like between the windows, in the corners of mock bulletin boards, or wherever else there is an awkward, empty space.  This picture only shows a portion of what I made because I couldn't fit them all in the frame.  I made multiples of each animal in different sizes.


I shared how I made these little cuties in this post.  And, in this one too.  Be sure to visit those posts if you're interested in crafting some for your own classroom. 

I am going to use these tissue pom flowers in the corners of my bulletin boards (which will be covered with brown fabric and framed with a double border of green and white polka dots and solid green wavy borders I purchased at Lakeshore).


 Here are the borders I plan to use:

Since I was going with a forest theme, I thought it would be fun to have a door sign that was kinda-sorta nature-y looking. So, I made this wreath as my door sign.  It was super simple.  First, I glued some flowers and a bow to a grapevine wreath. Then, I added my name to it.  The little plaque with my name on it is just a small wooden rectangle (from the wood section of the craft store).  I painted it blue and used stickers to spell out my name.  Easy peasy!


I made another sign to hang next to my desk.


I also made a reminder sign for students.  Now I won't have to tell them what they can do when they're finished.  They can just look at the sign.  In theory, anyway.  Hehe.


And, since I have this weird "thing" about making sure my theme is carried throughout my classroom, I even created some privilege cards to match.


Instead of having a prize box, my students earn privileges. They don't cost me anything and they love picking out their special privilege.  You can grab these privilege cards here for free.  :)

And, finally, a recycle box and name sticks (which I call "fair sticks") will also be incorporated into my theme.  They color coordinate with the theme, which makes me happy.  Small details and accents like this are a great way to bring your theme full circle. 


Classroom themes can be a lot of fun to work with, and the kids always end up enjoying their learning space.  You can check out this complete theme in my classroom reveal post.

Toodles!

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Oops, I Did it Again

I was going to get to those report cards today, really.  But it seems that my creative side got the better of me once again.  No worries though, I've made some progress on a few fun things for next year, and that's a good thing!

This is my recycle box for next year.  I have done this for a few years now, and it's just so much cuter than putting out an old paper box.  This is literally a 20 minute project.  I painted a paper box with white tempera paint.  It dries fast and I did a few coats (my little one even helped).  I don't mind that you still see some of the print, it adds to the "recycle" theme.  Then, I cut out the letters using my Cricut and some scraps of paper I had.  Finally, I hot glued a few buttons and bow to the letters.  So simple!

I also cutsied up my fair sticks for next year.  These are the sticks I frequently pull to partner students up, etc.  For the past 7 years, I have used plain sticks and put them in a black tin can.  It's highly functional and somewhat decent looking, but this is just ridiculously cute (I may be biased).  I realize that bows are a bit girly, but really these sticks are for me.  They sit on my desk and I'm the one who pulls them, so if I want bows, I'm going to use bows!  Tee hee.  I made 30 sticks because we still don't know what class sizes will be like next year.  I made 15 green and 15 blue bows and hot glued them to the wide craft sticks.  I'll write the students' names on the other end of the sticks once I have a class list.  I got everything at Michael's, on sale, with a gift card-woo hoo! 

In my last post I showed you the fast finisher sign I will be hanging up next year to remind the students what they can do when they complete an assignment early.  The feedback was great!  It's always exciting when you guys leave comments!  A few of you asked for the sign template.  Well, here you go.  Enjoy!


Hopefully, next time around, I can report that I got to those report cards.

Toodles!

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DIY Classroom Decor, Part 2

Yesterday I showed you how to make some cute classroom decor pieces using a single sheet of scrapbook paper.  Today, I will show you how to make larger accent pieces, without having your scrapbook paper on hand. 

Yesterday's example was able to fit on a single piece of 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper.  Sometimes I want pieces that are a bit larger.  This is always the case for the pieces I feature on my hallway board.  They need to stand out and help showcase this large area.  I used to make pieces that were several feet tall, but again, I have simplified over the years.

No matter how big or small you make them, the concept is truly the same.  You just have to fiddle with your projector until you get the size you want.

Alrighty, here we go!

1. Enlarge your image so that you can trace larger pieces.  To make the image larger, simply use whatever function your overhead (or Elmo) might have to do so. 

2. Use a manila folder to make some "take home" tracers.  If you already have the colors you want/need, then you can trace the different parts of your image directly onto your various sheets of paper.

3. Cut out the tracers and use them to trace each part of the image onto your selected colors.  Trace over those pieces with marker, if you like.  Cut out each piece.


4. Assemble the pieces together, like a puzzle, and adhere with glue (I use the extra strength Elmer's Craft Bond glue sticks because they really hold up).  And, ta da....another super cute accent!
Isn't he adorable?  He will be featured on my hallway board along with a few other friends that I have yet to make.  I did manage to make one of his buddies, the skunk below.  This little guy will be sitting in a field of flowers (yet to be made).

Making your own decorative pieces can be so simple, and so much fun!  I absolutely love doing them year after year.  The hardest part, truly, is waiting until late August when I can finally hang them up and see it all come together.  Over the next few weeks I plan on making more forest creatures, tissue paper pom poms for my ceiling, tissue paper pom flowers for the corners of my boards and wall areas, and using my trusty Cricut to cut out some cute phrases.  I'm sure that when August rolls around I won't be able to resist sharing some pictures with you!

I hope you enjoyed this DIY tutorial!

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DIY Classroom Decor

It's that time of year where I start to think about my classroom theme for next year.  I change it up every year and I've never repeated a theme (yet, anyway).  I will admit, in the past few years I have simplified what I do to decorate and coordinate display items in my room (hey, mommyhood will do that to you), but I simply LOVE the fun of deciding upon, and bringing my theme to life.

I make all my own decorative pieces.  Actually, this is a school thing.  We all make our own boards and decor and it is preferred that you not use premade store bought stuff.  There are about a million and one ways to make your own decorations, and not one of them is better or superior to the next. When I make my own pieces I do so in one of two ways.  I'll cover the first way today.

First, I choose a theme I like and find some pictures (clip art, scrapbooking stickers, etc).  I am using a forest animal theme next year, so I found some great clip art from KPM Doodles.  I print the images I like on a transparency and then use an overhead projector to trace the image onto scrapbook paper.  Please note that at one point a friend and I consulted with a well respected library back east on the the copyright issues behind this and we were told it falls under personal use.  In years past I created very large pieces and made my own textured paper out of butcher paper and tissue paper. The look is amazing, but I can never get a perfect enough trace line (which drives me crazy), so I went in search of a different medium.  Enter scrapbooking paper...it is perfect, for me.  No weird bumps when I trace, no tearing, and it's much faster. 

Today I will show you how to make a cute display piece using 1 piece of scrapbook paper (a bit more if you include the accents).  Due to the size of scrapbooking paper my pieces can be more limited in size, but I'm OK with that, and there is a way to make bigger pieces (see tomorrow's post).

Let's begin!

1.  Display the image via an overhead projector onto a piece of scrapbook paper.  Use a pencil to trace the image.  For this deer, I traced the outline of the body onto the color you see here.  I then traded out the "iced cocoa" paper for white and traced the spots of fur.  Finally, I used another shade of tan to trace the face, hooves, and inner ear.  Essentially, you are creating a puzzle.  You do have to think about what needs to be traced and what colors you need to use to do so.

2. When you are finished tracing with pencil, trace over those lines with marker.  (You don't have to trace with marker, I just like how it looks).

3. Cut out all the pieces.  

4. Next, glue each piece in place.
5. Cut out the whole image and.....ta da!  A cute little accent piece to display in your room!

This little guy will be paired up with another deer.  I plan to position them so they are facing one another and holding a cute garland in their mouths.  They will help showcase my citizenship wall.

Please note that I did attempt to trace this and other pieces using an Elmo but I found it to be inferior to the "outdated" technology of the overhead. The overhead allows you to make the image larger or smaller; the Elmo only makes it bigger.  And, the overhead does not distort the images.  Case in point, I went to trace an oval shaped tree, but the Elmo kept projecting it as a circle.  Useless!  I tracked down an overhead and was able to get exactly what I needed (Thanks L!).

You can make as many or as few pieces as you like and use them to create cute vignettes, place them in the corner of bulletin boards, use them to fill empty spaces, etc.  The possibilities are endless!

Tomorrow I will show you how to use scrapbook paper to make larger pieces.

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