Computer Lab Word Walls

In the past I had a word wall in Computer Lab, but this year I decided to revamp it. I wanted it to tie in more with my color scheme and to stand out more on the plain walls. I was thrilled with how it turned out and my students seem to enjoy it too! One of my fifth graders was absent for a few days when I made these changes. When she came back she told me that she loves how all the signs and colors go together. I adore comments like that - it totally made my day! The other teachers that use the Lab like the Keyboard Shortcut wall a lot, a few have said they will be coming by to study it! 

The Keyboard Shortcuts are available for both Mac & PC (command + or ctrl +). I went with the bulletin board this year, instead of my usual word wall.  This is the first thing everyone sees when they come to Computer Lab, and I do see my students reading it and using it a lot!

This set includes the Keyboard Shortcut Sign and 10 shortcuts, 30 computer terms which can be used for a Word Wall or as a bulletin board.

I also included reminder signs for shutting down the computers, putting away headphones (something that is forgotten a lot in my room at least!) and an End of the Day checklist for the person who leaves the room last. 

The Computer Lab is also used by the after school program and these signs have been a great way to remind whoever is in charge for the day about what needs to be completed before leaving.

I put all these items into a pack which is in both my TpT shop!

This set is also available with a white background in both my TpT shop!

I hope everyone had a great Monday and thanks for visiting my blog!

Looking for more classroom decor? Check out this blog post!

Onset & Rime Game Short Vowel Game

This game has 6 rime boards: 1 for each short vowel & 1 mixed vowel board for reviewing. It also has two sets of onset cards.

The flowered  cards are for single consonants and the blue cards are for blends & digraphs.

To play this game the students will roll the dice & read the rime they land on. Next, they will choose two onset cards and blend each sound together with the rime. If they land on "ack" they will read the rime and then turn over two onset cards (ex: s and bl) they will then say "sack"&  "black."

I also included grayscale versions for all of the game boards and cards.

The bright and beautiful backgrounds are digital papers by Maree Truelove.

This game is available at my TpT store.


Have a great night!

Things I Love October Edition

Black Crackle Polish, pretty much over any nail polish, but definitely over these China Glaze Neon colors!

Theses are a teeny bit chipped, I forgot to take a picture before school and very rarely do my manicures stay chipless for a day!

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting! I made these lovelies on Friday night...they were utterly delicious! Sadly many were, well, tossed for lack of a better word, due to soggy tops and sliding frosting. I definitely prefer a non-soggy cupcake! I think I may have been a bit hasty and frosted a wee bit too soon!

My newest -thus most favorite - purse! It is rose gold and sparkly - and it came with an adorable wristlet! I am so smitten with it!

My new Madden Girl boots to replace my boots from last year that only made it one season. (I have a bad habit of tapping my heels when I am sitting - which is detrimental to my shoes!) 

My adorable Sam & Libby Zees! I have four pairs of these darling shoes now! The first three I was able to snag for $19.99 apiece. However the last pair sadly cost me $29.99! I could not find a better deal and I could not risk missing out on these black leopard print flats!

I hope you are all staying safe if you are in Sandy's path!

Simple (and Cheap!) Writing Notebooks

We go through notebooks at a rapid rate in my classroom! I work in the Computer Lab for Intervention in Grades 1-5. I usually have about 15 students per grade in the room for each Intervention Block. We tend to switch groups every 6-8 weeks, but oftentimes sooner based on student needs.  In the past I have felt that the very moment I made up a notebook for a student was when they either moved or switched groups! I decided to find a cheaper, easier and less wasteful way to give my class their own personalized Writing Notebooks that will not go to waste when their time in Computer Lab is up. 

I have piles of scrapbook paper that I have either bought or been given over the years. Now there are lots of crafty things that I love to do, but scrapbooking has just never become one of them! I think I lack the patience one needs to do all that cutting and gluing! I decided to round up all my paper and use it for the notebooks.

These are my first graders notebooks. I used five pieces of paper and one scrapbook piece for the cover.  (I let them choose their own covers and I never bother with a back cover, they work just as well without one.) For my older students I do the same thing - but with eight to ten pieces small lined paper stapled on the long side.

I used these notebooks all last year and my students adored them! They loved personalizing their own books and I loved how they actually filled up the whole book! (I always find half filled notebooks annoying - it is such a waste of paper!) Some students preferred to add new pieces to the same book and some wanted to take their notebook home to their family as soon as it was filled. They were actually such a hit that I gave a fresh notebook to all my Intervention kiddos at the end of the year and they were thrilled!  I think I will end up running out of scrapbook paper soon but I know that I can get a great deal on one of those giant packs when that time finally comes!

What are some money saving tricks you use to supply your classrooms needs?

R Controlled Vowel Games

I always feel so bad early readers who are just beginning to gain confidence with decoding when they come to one of the dreaded R Controlled Words!! The reader follows all the rules, but it just does not make sense - no matter how they sound it out! I wanted to create a game that would help them to see, and memorize, the various combinations of letters that make up each R Controlled sound.

There are seven gameboards included in this set:

2 "are" boards (ex: yarn, jar, charm, tarp..)

2 "or" boards (ex: short, cord, fork, torch...)

2 "er" boards (ex: blur, skirt, fern, stir..)

and 1 "air" board (ex: pair, mare, bear, fair...) 

I also included a grayscale version for each board. I like to send these copies home with my students for extra practice.

This set is available in my Tpt shop!

Thanks for stopping by!

September and October's Best Nail Designs

I have gone a little nail art crazy lately. Some have come out amazing and some have been a bit disastrous - such as the time I spent an hour striping my nails only to have them chip to smithereens the next day! Then I got these amazing new brushes and my manicures have become so much easier to do! I thought I would share some of my better designs with you (never the mishaps, those photos are destroyed promptly! The above photo is just a multicolored teal glitter design with Milani that I used over a Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus (I cannot find a link for it, I bought it at Target ages ago.)

Next is my polka dots created with my much adored dotting tool. I used Sally Hansen's Pronto Purple for the base color, China Glaze's Platinum Silver and Sally Hansen's Blizzard Blue for the dots.

Here is my attempt at zebra print with those amazing new brushes I got. I was loving how fast and easy this design was, but I think I would mix-up the stripe sizes next time to make it a bit more detailed.  I used Sally Hansen White On and Black Out for this manicure.

Lastly we have my favorite - and my student's favorite this week too! Well except for my first graders who informed me that it was not an owl! I loved looking at it all week though! I used Essie's Go Overboard for the owl's body, Sally Hansen's White On for the chest/stomach area, Milani's Gold Dust for the beak and eyes (Black Out for the pupils) and the dots and other nails are Rimmel's Wild Orchid. I absolutely adored that color and it went on so smooth and solidly with just one coat! I will definitely try more of the Lasting Finish Pro line!

I think I may attempt plaid again this week but I will be sticking with my new brushes rather than the striping tape, that was a bit to much work for such sad results!

Happy weekend (and manicures) everyone!

Classroom Reveal (aka -Finally Finished!!)

I have been back in school for a month, but I just finally finished my room!

Consonant Blends Game

I love Chevron and I have been wanting to work it into one of my games for awhile now. This weekend I finally perfected my pattern and used it in my Consonant Blends Game!

Over the years I have had many students struggle with identifying (and pronouncing) the consonant blend sounds.  This game includes a wide variety of words to help reinforce this skill.

This game has 22 Beginning blend families and 12 Ending blend families.  Each blend family has eight cards - for example: /tr/: try, tree, trio, trot... Altogether there is a total of 176 Beginning blends cards and 96 Ending blend cards.

The Beginning blends have a green, red and purple Chevron pattern on the backside.

The Ending blends have a red, blue and purple Chevron pattern on the backside.

These cards can be used for two different games; Go Fish and Memory.

To play Go Fish players choose a few blends to start with. Each player gets five cards. In order to find a match they must ask another player for that pattern. For example: "Do you have a word that starts with the blend /st/?" If the other players are unsure they can also use their word in the sentence.  "Do you have a word that starts with /st/ like stay?" This allows the students to isolate the blends individual sounds while recognizing them in a variety of words.

Memory can be played by first choosing a few blends to begin with. The cards are laid out Chevron side up. A student chooses two cards and reads both words aloud. If they match, they must also say the blend sound that they share when claiming their match. If not they must return the cards to their original spot on the table.

The winner for both these games is the player who collects the most blends. An Answer Key with all the blend families is included to help the students self-check their answers when they playing in small groups. 

It also includes the Rules of Play for both Go Fish and Memory.

This game is available in my TpT shop!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week! :)

Synonym & Antonym Matching Games

The Synonym Matching Game consists of 50 pairs of synonym cards, a total of 100 cards. Students can use these cards for Concentration, Matching or Go Fish. These cards help with building synonym vocabulary or reviewing the concept. This set also includes an Answer Key allowing students to play this game in small groups and correct their own work. They have two different colored designs on the back of the cards - a purple and black striped and a white and black striped. This allows you to divide the set in half for differentiating or for students who are just beginning to increase their synonym knowledge. The Synonym Matching Game is available at my Tpt shop!

The Antonym Matching Game also consists of 50 pairs of antonym cards, a total of 100 cards. They can also be used for Concentration, Matching or Go Fish. The Answer Key is included, allowing students to play this game in small groups while correcting their own work. They have two different colored designs on the back of the each card - blue plaid and teal plaid. These cards are a great way to introduce more antonyms in your students vocabulary, or to practice and review the concept. The Antonym Matching Game is available at my Tpt shop!

Thanks for stopping by!

September's Inspired by Pinterest and Blogs...

I adore these rings! I spent one morning making oodles of them last week. I was inspired by this blog - she has really amazing ideas and her picture tutorials are excellent! After I made the heart ring I wanted to try the bow one that I have seen around on Pinterest a lot, so I searched and found tons of ideas for various designs! I think I may recreate these with some thicker wire eventually. The double heart and bow ring have a tendency to bend easily when they snag things - but I am definitely happy with them for now! The heart ring is definitely the easiest one to start with and then from there I just kind of went wild with them!

My next craft of the week was inspired by this blog. I have seen these painted bobby pins kicking around on Pinterest for awhile as well and I have been dying to make a few! They were incredibly easy to make which is the best part! Putting a bit of wax paper underneath the cardboard when you paint helps to keep them from sticking to the paper (a mistake I made the first time...at least the paper can be picked off!) I think the hardest part was choosing my colors! I may have a bit of a nail polish problem....and a bit of trouble with painting neatly. If my bobby pins look this bad imagine how my hands look after I am done painting my nails!!

On a side note: I recently read (on Pinterest) that the correct way to wear bobby pins is wavy side down...which means I have been doing it incorrectly my entire life!! And yet if you buy decorated pins the fancy part is on the wavy side which is just confusing. They do seem to stay in better that way though!

So which way do you ladies put your bobby pins in?  Let me know in the comments!

Happy Sunday!