0 Mummy Bulletin Board

I have mentioned before that I have parent volunteers decorate my hallway bulletin board. They always do such a good job and I'm always so happy with the results! I wanted to share with you all my adorable, Halloween bulletin board:

The kids love it!! They think is is pretty darn cool--- because it is! :)

How do you decorate your hallway bulletin board for Halloween?

Detail: Mummy Bulletin Board

0 January = Snow & Penguins

For some reason January makes me think of snow, penguins, and pretty much nothing else. Here in Utah it has been so bitter cold lately. It's cold enough that my students are literally begging me to let them stay inside for recess and, because I am a sucker, I usually say yes. 

Before winter break some wonderful parent volunteers put this cute, winter-themed bulletin board together. They sent in the snow globes ahead of time and I taught my students how to draw a snowman. Their artwork turned out so cute and we added glitter for the finishing touches! My students are so proud of their snow globes!! I love this bulletin board and how I was able to leave it up for December and January {bonus}!

Here are some of the snow globes up close:

Besides hermit crabs, we are all about penguins in my classroom! My kiddos are obsessed with these books that I checked out from our school library. A class favorite is The Emperor's Egg and, I must say, it's also my favorite! It is a fun picture book, great read-aloud, and it is super informative.

Click {here} to check out this book for yourself!

Today while browsing the internet, I came across this adorable stuffed penguin... I need it!!! How cute is that little chick?  My kids will love this too... I should buy it right??! Click {here} to check it out for yourself.

Right when we got back from winter break, my students made these cute lil' penguins. I first blogged about this simple penguin craft {here}. I always love to see how different each penguin turns out and how they oddly resemble the student that made them! This penguin craft will be the cover of our Penguin Portfolios that I'll blog about later this month. 

For our Penguin Portfolios we will be using a few pages from my All About Penguins freebie on TpT. You can check it out for yourself {here}. I will also be using Deanna's Penguin Unit {here}.

Do you study penguins with your students? What are some of your favorite resources?!

Detail: January = Snow & Penguins

0 Thanksgiving Bulletin Board

On Friday one of my awesome parent volunteers put together this adorable Thanksgiving bulletin board. {Can I just tell you that I have the BEST parent volunteers??!} Last week this wonderful parent volunteer sent home a feather with each student, that she pre-cut out of poster board. My students got to decorate their feathers with whatever and however they wanted to!!  They loved this homework assignment and had a lot of fun with it. Check out how darling all of the feathers turned out:

And how cute is that little turkey??

On a Side Note: This is what the view from my window has looked like all weekend! It literally hasn't stopped snowing since Friday morning. It has been so fun to stay home and watch it all happen from inside my nice cozy family room. Too bad I have to go out in it tomorrow morning!!

So Beautiful!!!

Happy Winter Fall, Sweet Friends!!!

If you have a post about your Thanksgiving bulletin board, leave a link in the comment section below!

Detail: Thanksgiving Bulletin Board

0 My Class is SWEET! {B2S Bulletin Board Idea}

Wooohooo! My back-to-school bulletin board is finished! *Insert sigh of relief!* I have a love/hate relationship with bulletin boards. I love thinking of the idea, I hate carrying it out {it's stressful}, and I love the finished product. This year I am going to continue with the same circus/carnival theme that I had last year, and I think this welcome board goes with all my classroom decor perfectly -- that... and I just love candy.

To make this board I used my handy-dandy Silhouette Cameo, which means I didn't cut out a thing {well, except for the candy jar... 'cuz that thing is BIG}! My Cameo did most of it for me. Seriously, that machine rocks and I can't remember how I ever lived with out it. 

"Mrs. Erickson's Class is SWEET!!" I put my new students' names on the gum balls and made this large candy jar with white butcher paper. To make the jar lid, I used poster paper to make the shape of the lid and then covered it with tin foil to get the "metal" look. I am excited for my new firsties to see this board on the first day of school and I am sure they'll have fun finding their own names in the candy jar.

This is the only bulletin board I will be decorating this year, because I am going to turn this board over to the parents in my class. I just don't have the time for this during the school year and I have come to learn that some parents like to decorate a bulletin board every once in a while. At our back to school meeting, I will have a sign up sheet available, so my crafty parent volunteers can sign up for a month {or two}! Click {here} to see what my sign up sheet will look like. On this page I used the CK Primary font and you can download it free {here} and the My Own Topher font and you can also download it free {here}.

How do you decorate your bulletin board {or door} for the first day of school?

Detail: My Class is SWEET! {B2S Bulletin Board Idea}

0 daily 5 {chapter 2}

My favorite part about chapter 2 was this:

When you think about it, it really makes sense! When students understand the purpose of doing something and have a choice on which task they complete, they are naturally more motivated to stay busy and learn. 

I love the idea of teaching students the urgency and why they need to complete each Daily 5 task.  I am having so many "ah ha" moments while reading this book, that it will be interesting to see it actually working in my classroom next year. I am so excited {but, not excited enough to want summer to end}!

I also liked the questions students should ask themselves before choosing a Daily 5 task. I made a printable to go along with them and I will display this poster on my Daily 5 bulletin board {along with the 5 choices}.

Click the picture below to download. Please Note: I added this poster to the end of the last Daily 5 download {so you will need to download it again}. It will be easier to keep all the downloads all in one place, so each week I will be adding to this file. Enjoy!

BTW: It's still not too late to follow along and read The Daily 5 and CAFE with us! 

Click the images below to snag your own copy of both books!

               

Be sure to link up with CHERYL {here}!

Detail: daily 5 {chapter 2}

0 predicting {this one's for the BOYS!}

Hello Friends! Happy Monday... {is there such a thing???}

Today we talked a whole lot about predicting... and the SUPER Bowl! Since I am a total girly girl and I know

N-O-T-H-I-N-G about football, I had to recruit my husband and some of my students to help me on this one. I'm sure you have seen this adorable football {can those two words be together?} craft created by the talented Teri at A Cupcake for the Teacher. When I first saw this craft, I knew I had to make it with my students... 

{and I didn't even know who was playing... who cares, right??!}

You can purchase the craft pattern from Teri's TpT and TN stores for only $1.00!

My boys got really into this activity! Finally... a craft they could relate to!

I had one little boy who pretty much convinced the whole class that the New England Patriots were going to be the winning team... he gave lots of good reasons... and since I don't know that much, I believed him.

Thanks, Teri, for such an awesome idea!! {If you haven't checked out her blog, you need to!}

How do you teach predicting to your students?

Detail: predicting {this one's for the BOYS!}

0 DIY magnetic art wall

Last year I had a "cursed" wall. I wish I took a picture of it for you, because it really was cursed.

It was ugly, damaged, and I couldn't staple a thing into it. I covered it with butcher paper (by taping and gluing it down) and used it as my art wall anyways. I struggled all year long to get artwork to stay up... because, sometimes you just gotta work with what you have.

This year I wasn't willing to deal with that wall. No way. Instead, I covered it up with sheet metal.

It was my sister's idea. She is a genius!!!

I got the sheet metal from a local heating and air conditioning company.

They were so nice and they cut it so it would fit my wall perfectly.

  

The best part: It only cost me $35.00.

It was wayyyy cheaper than a home improvement store... 

Don't you wish those places offered teacher discounts?

I didn't have to use a drill to get the sheet metal to stay up, instead I used double sided Duck Tape. 

By the way, that stuff is pretty much amazing and knocks the socks off of Teacher Tape.

And to keep the black polka-dotted boarder up, I used glue dots and so far it has worked like a charm!

Don't you love that adorable banner? My sweet mom helped me cut out all that felt and then she sewed it together for me. I'm lucky to have such a talented mama (and sisters).

I love my new wall! Now I use magnets with my students' names on them to hold their artwork.

My students think that magnets are pretty cool, too. They love putting up their own art.

For my magnets, I used a similiar idea to Mrs. Rojas over at Create, Teach, Inspire
and they turned out darling!

How do you display your students' artwork?

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Detail: DIY magnetic art wall

0 home reading tracker

Last year I wasn't good at tracking my students' home reading minutes.

I mean, I still tracked them and all, I just didn't have a successful motivating system. 

I used stickers and that's about it. Boring huh? Ya... it was.

I feel like I "dropped the ball" last year, so I am determined to succeed this year.

Since I have a carnival/circus theme in my classroom,
I decided to make a "Reading is Sweet" bulletin board with some cute lollipops I found at Target.
This board is used to track the home reading minutes.

For every 100 minutes read at home, my students earn a pony bead to put on their necklace.

All of my students have a dog tag necklace with their names and "grade 2" stamped on them. If you want to stamp your students' names into dog tag necklaces, then it is important to get a soft aluminum. 

(I wouldn't recommend buying them from Oriental Trading.) I got mine on Etsy here.  

Click here to see what kind of metal stamp set I used (you may want to shop around for this).

To start out the school year, each necklace had a piece of candy.  My students got to trade in their candy when they read their first 100 minutes (at home) and earned their first bead. I will continue to put cheap/hard candy on their necklaces every so often to keep up the motivation. 

Even though my students have only earned one or two beads so far, they are so excited! 

They are talking about the patterns they want to make with their beads... and all I tell them is: 

Keep reading at home and you will get that pattern!

I require my students to read at least 20 minutes each school night for homework. I send home a reading chart each Monday and it is due each Friday (click here to view my Home Reading Chart). In one week, they should be able to get 100 minutes read, which would earn them one bead a week. 

So now tell me, how do you track home reading minutes?

What kind of rewards do you use?

Detail: home reading tracker

0 class promise

First off, thanks to all of you who nominated my blog as a Top 10 Blog! So nice of you! 

Head on over to my sidebar and check out my favorite blogs!

Anyways, onto business...

I came across this adorable class promise here and I knew I had to do it with my class.

My class made up our own promise. We choose to include things that matter to us and our class family.

I love the one that says: To be the first to say "Hi!"

How do these kids come up with this stuff? They are so sweet!

Anyways, check out their cute, little self portraits:

My sweet friend, Amy Lemons, has a cute Class Promise Packet! Click {here} to check it out!

you have a class promise/pledge?

How did you come up with it?

Detail: class promise

0 even and odd street

We kicked off the year learning about "even" and "odd" numbers.

(I want them to do their Everyday Learning workbooks independently...)

I found a great idea on... you guessed it Pinterest... with Even and Odd Houses. 

I feel in love with it immediately and I had to do it with my second graders.

Click here to view the original/cuter idea (you will have to scroll through the pictures to find it).

Even and Odd Street:

I first had them make the "Even Houses" by following my step-by-step instructions.

I actually used this as a listening assessment, because they all had to turn out the same.

Then I let them go crazy with the "Odd Houses" and they loved it! Some of them even had dog houses! 

Click here to download the black-lines for this activity.

Click here to see some cute even/odd chants written by Jess at Rambling About Reading! 

Thanks Jess! I will definitely use these during calendar time!

How do you teach even/odd numbers?

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Detail: even and odd street

0 calendar wall

Oh my goodness... I survived the first day of school!

It was so good to see them again. I missed those little guys.

(I wonder what I have to do to take them to third grade, too...)

Since I looped with my class, there was a moment when I felt like I never had a summer.

My day was crazier than I expected. It was like a great big reunion--they were all so happy to see their friends. It was definitely not a typical first day of school.  I had keep reminding myself that they are kids and they were just really happy to be in school again.

Needless to say, I'm exhausted! No gym for me.

Anyways, here are a few pics of my calendar wall. I put a lot of thought into this bulletin board and it took me a lonnnng time to finally put it together. I really wanted to make this space meaningful, because I think calendar time is really important. 

I created the money anchor charts in the picture above. Click here to download.

I bought the season pictures from Amazon for like $2.50 {I cut them apart}. Click here to check them out.

I bought the Hundreds, Tens, Ones, pocket chart here.

I also bought the hundreds chart from Amazon. Click here to check it out.

This is our circle time area. You can't see it, but I have a green rug for my students to sit on.

I created this date flip-chart from a free download at Mama Jenn. 

I love it and I love the idea of having all the pieces on a ring. 

I got really sick of laying out pieces (that would get always lost) the night before.

I think this clock is so fun! I saw it in Lory Evans' classroom and I had to make my own.

(BTW, Lory teaches in the same district as me. I took a math class from her and that woman is pretty much amazing! You really should check out her blog.)

Oh and I am always telling my students that they can do hard things! 

It makes me giddy to hear them tell each other the same thing.

I plan on changing the messages throughout the year, depending on what my students need.

Next message will be: Always Do Your Personal BEST!

What do you do for calendar time?

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Detail: calendar wall

0 Chicka Chicka... BOOM BOOM!

Last year I had a jungle themed classroom.

 I also incorporated the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book into a lot of classroom activities. 

So I created a Chicka Chicka, Boom Boom bulletin board to welcome my new students on the first day of school! Each letter represents a student and I wrote their names the letters. I couldn't find a purple and orange polka-dotted boarder, so I made this one with construction paper and a hole puncher!

Here are some of my other jungle themed bulletin boards:

I would even use Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to get my students attention.

I would say, "Chicka Chicka!"

and my students would stop what they were doing, 

put their eyes on me and say, "BOOM! BOOM!"

Even though I love the jungle theme...

next year I am thinking it will be a circus in my classroom... 

What theme is your classroom?

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest! 

Detail: Chicka Chicka... BOOM BOOM!

0 my SUPER bulletin board

I have a love/hate relationship with my hallway bulletin board...

I love decorating it.

I hate the time it takes to decorate it.

Thank goodness for Teacher Appreciation Week and the PTA at my school!

My room mom (who just happens to be my older sister) decorated this A-MAZ-ING board:

How cute is this little superhero girl? Hmmmm... I think she would go great with my sup-ER-hero unit!!!

I just might have to take her off carefully and send her through the laminater!

And just in case you are wondering, my sister created her from scratch.

Meaning... she drew her by hand and cut her out... she is freakishly talented!

Thanks Sis! You are the best!!

--------------------------------------------

I am always looking for creative bulletin board ideas.

Please let me know if you post one!

What are your favorite bulletin board ideas?

Detail: my SUPER bulletin board

0 today you are you

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Here is my bulletin board for March:

This is one of my favorite quotes by Dr. Seuss.

Painting this hat/cake was so much fun... I just wish I had more time to do stuff like this!

On a Side Note: I have to get my very first substitute on Thursday (I have to attend a math training)! Ahh! I feel like a mother leaving her baby for the first time. I am so nervous! Thank goodnesss I have a great substitute (who was actually my sixth grade teacher) lined up.

Any suggestions when it comes to writing sub plans??

I haven't even started yet!

Detail: today you are you