Organizing Math Centers

Over the last two years, I have been making math centers and organizing them into tubs with labels.  This system has made it so much easier to find a center and it is ready for the students to use. I love that I do not have to put the center together every time I want to use it. I bought those clear plastic shoe boxes from Walmart or the Dollar Store. I place the math center with all the materials inside and printed a label for the front.  I have two closet cabinets where I place them. Here are picture of one of the closets.

 

This may seem like a lot to put together but remember it has taken me two years to come up with the centers and put them in tubs. I would suggest creating a tub as you use the center in class. It will make your life easier. My class has five math centers a week and rotate each day. 

Here are a couple centers they are doing this week. 

Dalmatian counting: 

Students have to put the dogs in order from 1-25 and they place that many spots on the dog.  I used black foam and cut out dots.

 Beach Ball Decompose/Compose:

Students draw an equation (10+9) and use blocks to show tens and ones. Then they find the beach ball with the answer.

 Adding Fluently to 5:

Students have three different bags. They have a bag with numbers that will equal 3, equal 4, and equal 5. Students will draw a number and place that many on the pipe cleaner. Then see how many more they need to make 3, 4, or 5. 

Bundle: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A..... SMART Board Activities

I have made a BUNDLE of EIGHT of the "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A..."

SMART board activities. Bundle and Save! You can find it in my TPT Store. 

I am having a 20% off sale in my store 4/20-4/21. 

Get it for even cheaper this weekend!

Here are the previous post of the activities individually that shows what's in them. 

Post One

Post Two

I am having a SALE in my TPT 20% off 4/20-4/21.
Check things off your wishlist. :)
You can use this icon to share with your friends!

Sugar and Spice is having a Giveaway!

Sugar and Spice is having a Giveaway! 

Go Check it out on her blog by clicking the link above the picture. 

3 lucky followers will win a $10 TpT Gift Certificate and some items from my store! :)  Use the Rafflecopter below to enter by next Friday (4/19/13) for your chance to win.

 

Sorting by Beginning Letter Sound SMART board activity & Summer Teacher Binder Covers

I have been spending my spare time today making some new things :) I made a SMART board activity for students to practice working on beginning sounds by sorting pictures.  I also had a request to make a summer theme Teacher Binder Covers and forms. Check both out below! 

I am giving one of these items away! 

All you have to do is comment on this post or on facebook with your email by 10:00 p.m. tomorrow (April 15, 2013)

I will randomly pick a winner to win and they will get to choose which one they would like. 

Sorting by Beginning Letter Sound 

SMART board Activity

 This is a "notebook" file for a SMART board. This activity students will look at a picture and determine the beginning letter. Students will move the picture to the correct jar. Each slide has two letters to sort between. This activity can be used as a mini lesson, word work, or a literacy center. 

Here are the sorting letters.

Slide 1: Title Page
Slide 2: Sorting A and B
Slide 3: Sorting C and T
Slide 4: Sorting Z and J
Slide 5: Sorting Y and H
Slide 6: Sorting K and G
Slide 7: Sorting Q and S
Slide 8: Sorting L and O
Slide 9: Sorting M and N
Slide 10: Sorting D and P
Slide 11: Sorting E and U
Slide 12: Sorting I and V
Slide 13: Sorting R and F
Slide 14: Sorting W and X
Slide 15: Credits

 You can find it here

  Summer Teacher Binder Covers/Dividers and Forms

This is a Summer/Beach theme PDF which includes the following:

Open House/any meeting sign in sheet
Transportation Sheet

Teacher Binder Dividers:

Lesson Plan Cover
Parent Communication Log Cover
Student Information Cover
Student Data Cover
Monthly Calendar Cover
Meeting Notes Cover
Reading Groups Cover
Common Core Standards Cover

You can find it here.

Guided Reading Response Forms

Here is my newest product in my Store.

Guided Reading Group Printable Strategy Response Sheets

You can find it here: TPT STORE or Teachers Notebook

This is a PDF of different printable response sheets where students and work on their comprehension strategies. These can be used during Guided Reading lessons and during independent work time. Here are a list of the what is included.
*Who are the characters
*Do you know your character (tell things about the character)
*Making a List
*2 different types of schema sheets
*Beginning, Middle, End
*Before Reading knowledge/after reading knowledge
*First, Then, Next, Last
*Who, what, when, where, why, how
*Setting
*Story Map: Characters, setting, problem, solution
*Sketch to stretch
*Favorite Part

Painted my Front Door to Look like Wood

Here is the finished product :)

I have always wanted a wood door but haven't had the opportunity to get one and I'm not willing to spend the money on one! (teachers know that feeling) So I decided to try and paint my door to look like wood! When I told my husband, he wasn't for it 100% because he had in his mind... HOW... Don't get me wrong, I had doubts about it too but my way of thinking was if it looks bad... paint over it white! 

Here is what my metal door looked like to begin with...It was a weird shade of BLUE.

Then the painting began. 

First, I primed the door (tinted the base color)

 

Painted the door a base color (SW Tatami Tan)

Then I started taping and painting the wood grain color

(SW Fiery Brown)

I use 100% acrylic latex paint!

 If you want to know how to do this project step by step please go to Robert Schott website http://www.everythingicreate.com/

He has an awesome tutorial on how to Faux Paint a front door or garage door.

Lots of Staining!!

Over Spring Break, my husband and I have been doing lots of work around the house. We decided to stain the back deck, back fence, and front railings. I did not realize how much fencing we had until we had to ROLL the whole thing. We started off by pressure washing everything and then started staining.  Look at the before pics.

 Here is my husband pressure washing the fence. 

I did not realize how dirty the fence was.

 This was the deck before the staining.

 The ROLLING took FOREVER. I never realized how much fencing I had.  I should have bought a paint sprayer.

 Ta-Da Here is the newly stained Deck :)

 I am so glad this project is DONE!