Space Saving Tip - Hanging Chart Paper for the Year

One of my favorite things to talk about is organization. I might be a LITTLE obsessed with being neat and organized... ha!

In my new room this year, I don't have a lot of space... so I've had to get a little creative on some things.  One of the things I don't have is a place to keep is a chart stand, other or an easel. And I really like hanging our poems and anchor charts for the year in one place, so the kids can flip through them every once in a while.  (You can see my post on what I do with our poems HERE)

I have a door with a window in my room that goes to my "closet."  So, I've started just hanging my chart paper there! I just use two butterfly clips and some command strips, and voila! I can hang my chart paper up. 

I also use this to hang up my posters for the year... you know the mailbox posters and such? Or the laminated anchor charts you make and reuse each year? I have those hanging on the other side of the door! It makes it really easy to go looking through them really quickly!

Hope this gives you some sort of idea for organizing and using every inch of your space.

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Math with a Deck of Cards

One of my favorite tools to use in math is a deck of cards.

Yep. 

They are SO versatile! I can pretty much teach/review any skill with a deck of cards by my side.

Here are few examples of what we use them for.

(my pictures are not perfect...because well, some are old. I've been at this a long time - ha!)

addition war

2-digit war

place value

subtracting across zeros

comparing numbers (this was a fun version during October)

breaking apart ones to add

more and less

sequencing numbers

missing addends - these magnetic 10 frame boards are so cool! I can't find these exact boards anymore, but HERE are a bunch of different kinds

I use them all the time as a random number generator! 

OH! And we love using GIANT cards too! Makes math so much more fun! lol Find them HERE

I have 2 different versions in my TpT STORE: 1st grade and 2nd grade (and 3rd/4th)

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Printing 2 by 1 {Spelling Journals}

Hey guys! I thought I'd share a remake of my SPELLING JOURNALS

I've used these for YEARS. Honestly.  Truly a life saver. I used to send them to our district's print shop to get printed and bound, but over the years, I've started changing how I do them...

Now I print them 2 by 1 and then hole punch them and put them in a 3-pronged folder.

Just in case you need to know how to do it... here's a quick tutorial

First - hit that page thumbnail icon on the top left, so all the pages show up in the sidebar.

Then, hold down the control button and click on the pages you want to print. I happened to only want to print the pages with word banks already on there, but if you wanted both pages, that's cool, too!

Then click on the print icon up top.

THEN... here's where you need to make sure of a few things...

- click on "multiple"

- custom - 2 by 1

- horizontal (or vertical, whichever fits your pages)

- landscape

Then you print them up and hole punch

I print a cover sheet in a different color, so it stands out - since they use their folders for other things too. 

Check out how we use this spelling folder in THIS post. 

Find it in my TPT store HERE

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March, April, May Adult Book reviews!

Hey guys! I'm over at A Splash of Life with the last few months of book reviews! I'm going to try to start back up with my personal blog again and keep this one just with teachery stuff... some come on over and follow me there! 

Click HERE for the last few months of book reviews!

                

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Olympics - Going for the Gold

Oh - the Olympics. I love the Olympic Games! 

Last time the Olympic Games came - we kept a super simple, but FUN interactive scoreboard. We'd change the score every morning to match what was happening in the Olympics. It's nothing fancy, but the kids loved it! 

I also LOVED this book - Olympig

SUCH a cute book!!

I've also done a Scholastic News articles - I keep them to use year to year. 

And then we do this fun little craft and writing from Kelly. 

I also got Gold medals from Amazon. 

I made these Gold Medal Student awards, which are also perfect to hand out for their character traits, too. Click HERE to download them for free. 

And of course, you can't end the Olympics without an edible torch! lol

I'm such a sucker for themes, I couldn't help myself! 

Hope you found some good ideas! 

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January Adult Book Review

This month, since school started back up, and I was back to being in the car a lot - plus on the dog walks, I got in a few more books than in December. lol 

And this month was filled with a bunch of great books!!

Let's take a look! 

The Broken Girls - my first book of 2022

I actually had no idea what this book was about when I saw the recommendation to read it. Didn't even read the review  

But I really liked it! It's a mystery book (as that's what the library says ). It toggled between 2 time lines. So in the end you see how it all comes together.

https://amzn.to/3FOxeLo

 

 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Have you read it? What did you think? After reading some friends' reviews, it was either hit or miss, but I really liked it! It's been in my TBR list a long time, and I don't know why I never felt the need to read it. It was definitely different than what I thought it was going to be, but I really liked it! 

https://amzn.to/32aBfeJ

Local Woman Missing - Oh. Em. Geeee

This book kept me guessing until the very end and I couldn't put the book down. I mean, I had to, because #momlife  I actually recommended this book to my friend, who happens to be a Doula and teaches yoga (just like the main character) and she was like ummm... this is eerie! lol

If you like mysteries/thrillers, grab this one!

https://amzn.to/31Fxb5X

Aww - A Man Called Ove

I know I'm late to this book, but I'm so glad I finally got to read it.

I LOVED this book. I loved this old man, and found myself laughing at his old man grumpiness and his love for his wife (who had passed away, but still was very much a part of the story).

AND one of my followers just told me that she heard they were going to be making an American version of this move with TOM HANKS!!

Oh my goodness. That's be so good

https://amzn.to/3o1lQoH

Such a good book. I loved her "One Day in December" book, but I like this on even more.

Lydia loses her fiance in a car accident and basically ends up living two lives, one in reality, and one in her dreams.

I spent a lot of this book super emotional (I mean, I cry ALL THE TIME with commercials and movies, so this is no surprise lol)

I loved watching the main character grow and learn.

It's also a British book, which I love.

It's not a light hearted chick lit, but still a good book!

https://amzn.to/3K3WwYu 

Ok, I can't decide on this one.
On one hand I really liked it, but in the other hand... I just don't know. Maybe it was the style of writing?? But I liked the story line.. its actually kind of appropriate for today's dating world. She meets someone on a dating app - and things start happening!

Idk. Have you read it?? What did you think??

https://amzn.to/3fQUI7w

Our Woman in Moscow-

I didn't think I was a historical fiction book person, but Beatriz Williams keeps changing my mind...and she's becoming one of my go to authors! I really liked this one too. 
Another good book by her!!

https://amzn.to/3JY0MZp

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