Dollar Tree and Michael's crafts!

I admit it...I am a Shop-a-holic! I love me some shopping! It's the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of the cool find! I could shop for hours! 
I also love to make things for my classroom. (I think I said that in my last post!) Well the creating continues! 

I went to Michael's craft store. Just inside the door, there was a clearance table. Clearance tables have a way of calling to me! I found some bottles of coloured sand! Yay!

I know you are thinking...What? why would anyone get excited about jars of coloured sand? 
Well let me tell you! 

I instantly thought, "Hey, this would be cool with SIGHT words inside!" So that's what I will be doing! I will place sight words inside the jars. Then the kids can turn the bottles and find the sight words and then write them on a sheet, and for a challenge they can write a sentence with the words! One centre- four kids, done!

Then I had some plastic bugs, from Dollar Tree. (Love Dollar Tree!!) I wrote sight words on the bugs. The bugs have between 1 and 4 words on them. I put the bugs in a plastic tub and covered them with the sand. Then to use the centre the kids can dig into the sand and find the bugs and pull them out and then write the words they find on the bugs. 
I think it will be fun!

It is funny because one of the blogs that I love to read had some of the same ideas as me! I even emailed her and told her that I think we share a brain or we are somehow on the same wave length! She emailed back and said that we should go "Dollar-treeing" together sometime! Her blog is fabulous and she has been doing it a bit longer than I have. She even has her own Teacher's Pay Teacher's store. Her blog is called     firstgradeandfabulous.blogspot.ca
I love her idea for pool noodles! Check it out! I am making that one too! 


Her pool noodle idea, sparked my own pool noodle ideas!

 I went to Dollar tree (again!) and bought some paper towel holders and pool noodles. I even found STAR shaped pool noodles! I bought them! Then I cut the pool noodles into little donuts or little flat stars with a hole in the middle! The kids can use them to build PATTERNS! Yay! Pattern centre activity! I can also add a worksheet to it where kids can show on paper the patterns they created. 

Making things for my classroom is so fun! I'm already thinking ...Hmmm...What's next? 

Making things!

I love making things for my classroom! Summer is the perfect time to do it because I actually have the time! 

Ahhh, time...so precious and lovely! In summer, I can actually afford to "waste" some time! This summer I have been a little self indulgent! I have been going to yoga, playing in my art room and playing on Pinterest! AND the best part...I can eat when I want to and go to the bathroom when I need to! Things I rarely get to do during the school year. 
I remember someone saying to me when I first started teaching, that is what summers were for...going to the bathroom! Who would have thought going to the washroom would be such a luxury! 

Sorry...every once and a while...SQUIRREL! (I can get easily distracted!) 
Anyway...

Back to the Making things for my classroom! 

SO... Cruising around Pinterest, sparked the idea for these little "Pattern-a-pillars" made with wooden spoons. I already had the spoons in my art room "stash" and when I was at Michael's craft store I found these little foamy ring things on clearance. They came in a bag full of different colours, perfect! 

I think she turned out kinda cute! I ended up making 4 of them, so two sets of kids partnered up, can visit this centre activity. I will also create an accountability worksheet to go with the hands on activity of this centre. I think the kids will like it! I know I liked playing with it! 

I found these "monsters" at Wal-Mart and I think I squealed, because I remember people looking at me wondering what was my problem? I just smiled and grabbed two of them and quickly left the aisle! 

Anyway, on to what I want to do with them...

I was thinking they would make really cute "Math Monsters" and I will put them into a centre tub with flash cards and some math manipulatives. The kids can have the monsters "EAT" the cards they figure out correctly by unzipping the zipper and tucking them inside. 

I think they are funny and cute! 

I also found these french fry containers and thought of a fun game to make to put in them.  So I took some wooden tongue depressor sized craft sticks and put the pre-primer Dolch sight words on them. They will be the "fries"! On the ends of some of the fries, I coloured them red. If you pull out a "red" fry, you have to put back ALL your collected fries and start over. 

I called the game, FRY FRENZY! 

I actually made one for EACH child in my class, to put in their "literacy kits"...

more about those later!! 

I also made WORD WALLETS from plastic folders, that I found at Staples for ten cents!

I cut the folders and taped them with fancy duct tape. Then on the inside I wrote the word, YES on one pocket and NOT YET on the other pocket. Then I put sight word cards inside the wallets. Each child will receive one of these in their literacy kits.

So as you can see...I've been busy! 

I will share more about the literacy kits that I am making up for each child in my class!

I am hoping to give the literacy kits to the families at Meet the Teacher night!

My intent is to make sure the families have some things to help their child to become a reader! 

Plus, then there are no excuses! LOL!