the next step in guided reading

I'm excited to be participating in a book study of the book, The Next Step in Guided Reading! I'm about to enter my third year of teaching and want to always learn how to be a better educator. It'll be a little while before my I post about my specific chapter but I've heard good things about this book and am excited to learn how to be more successful with guided reading. It amazes me how my kindergarten kiddos can go from knowing a few letters and sounds in August to reading by the time May rolls around. I find it so fascinating how the brain processes all of that! So stay tuned and search for #guidedreadinggals to see what the others in this group have to say about the book!

small group space

I've just wrapped up working in my classroom! I've spent a few hours each day this week unpacking and getting everything ready for my next group of kiddos. I was there a full day today but I'm done! Just about :) I have a few things I need to do but they can wait until later. I'm going on a missions trip in two weeks and really wanted to have my room ready so I could come back and enjoy one more week off before school officially starts. It's such a relief to have things done! I'm super excited about my small group space. I was going to make seating - with some inspiration from Pinterest - but instead found exactly what I had been looking for! These stools are technically side tables but they're sturdy and I love the colors! I need to have my table raised just a bit so my kiddos have leg space but oh goodness, I just love it! My other improvement are these adhesive dry erase circles I found on Amazon. They're called wall dots - something that would've been helpful to know as I searched and searched online before I found them :) I like them for two reasons: one is that I won't have to pass out dry erase boards and second is that the dots mark the space for each student. I used duck tape last year, dividing my table into six sections. I'm hoping these dots will last all year :) *fingers crossed*

teacher toolbox

I've wanted to make a teacher toolbox for at least a year. But I could never find the right organizer and other things came up…and it just never happened. Until today. I went to Lowe's yesterday and found an organizer and then found some cute editable labels and I now have my very own teacher toolbox! I'm super excited with how it turned out! And I have two empty drawers - I'm not sure what I'll use them for but I like that I have options :) And I love the different patterns of the labels - there are several other versions available for free on Teachers Pay Teachers but I liked this the best. The font I used is KG Shake It Off. 

Click here to buy this organizer from Lowe's

Click here for the labels on Teachers Pay Teachers

chair pockets

I have two big DIY projects this summer: small group seating and chair pockets. I've been looking on Pinterest for ideas on both of these. I think I'll go with the paint buckets for my small group seating. I like the idea of crates but I wonder if they wouldn't be tall enough for my kindergarten kiddos. I'll tackle that later but am going to start working on chair pockets. I didn't have them this year; instead, each table kept their journals, etc. in a tub on our counter. I like my tubs - I found super cute chalkboard labels but bunting that I've put on them but it takes time to move them to the front of the counter when we need them and then kids are tipping them over and ugh, I'm ready for something else! I love the idea of chair pockets but not having to sew them. So, I was beyond excited to find a no sew alternative! I'm going to go thrift store shopping to see if I can find of bunch of pillowcases for this project. I want to possibly find some thick pillowcases that will be sturdy. I'm excited about how easy this is and can't wait to get started!

no sew chair pockets

summer!

Summer is here! I'm ready for the time off and the time to regroup. As teachers, we know we'll still be working this summer. After my room is cleaned, I'll be getting it ready for my next group of kiddos. I love the freshness of a new school year. Everything is clean and new. So what do your summer plans look like? I have a few trainings I'll be going to and will get my room set up and organized. It was my first year in that room so it's pretty much taken me the whole school year to figure out where I want things and to start going through things that I inherited from the previous teacher. I feel much more prepared when my room is organized :) I'm also taking a missions trip - that will actually wrap up my summer. My goal is to have everything ready before then so the last week I have off can just be relaxing! Happy Summer!

tpt sale!

I've been waiting for a Teachers Pay Teachers sale! There are several things on my Wish List I've really wanted to buy but was hoping I could get on sale…and I did! And it's really great because most items are already on sale PLUS you get to add the promo code on top of that PLUS TPT credits if you have some! I found some great CVC stuff and a huge guided reading product! I also bought a story starter bundle…that will grow each month! I was especially excited about that one because I was able to buy it now but have new writing prompts added each month. 

Some of my other purchases:

blends and digraph freebie

I'm making a goal for this year: to blog! Eventually, I want to be one of those extremely creative teachers who make and sell products on Teachers Pay Teachers. Eventually :) But for now, I just want to work on consistently sharing good things I find and what works in my classroom. 

So I'm passing along these great freebies from Mrs. Lemons! I found her original post about two years ago and immediately downloaded the posters. But then this week I couldn't find the file and realize I hadn't pinned it on Pinterest either (what did I do before Pinterest?!). But then after much looking I finally…finally…found what I was looking for!

Not all of my kindergarten kiddos are ready for blends and digraphs but some are. We've talked a little about them off and on but once we get back from Christmas break, I'm going to start talking about them more. I've already backed my posters on teal paper and just need to laminate them. I originally thought about making a cute bunting with them to hang at my small group table but these posters are too big - something to think about for next year though :) Instead, after we talk about a blend/digraph, I'm going to run a string above the bulletin board at my small group table and hang that poster on the string. 

Click here to go to Mrs. Lemons blog and download the posters for yourself :)

~ Amber