Book Talk: My All-Time Favorite

Hey friends!

I couldn't be more excited for this fun link up with Deanna Jump!

I love books. I mean I really, really love books. I have a confession. I have 600 books in my classroom.  I've taught for one year. So when I say I really, really love books…I'm really saying I have an addiction to books. I'm talking go garage sale-ing every weekend, stalking thrift stores, binge shopping at Scholastic (warehouse AND reading clubs) full-out addiction. The first step is admitting, right?

Here's a prime example. This is me. Two days ago. At Target. Leveled books were $2. WHY did I feel compelled to buy these when I had just spent $67 on garage sale books?! Because I have a disease.

No matter how many books I acquire or how many classics I have from when I was a kid, I still always come back to this one book.

This book is a game changer. If you don't have it, go buy it now. I already have 2 copies (Judge me). I used this book for no less than SEVEN different lessons this year. My kids know and love Moose. Even the 7th time I pulled out the book to read it to them, they perked right up. Moose is baaaack, what is Miss Culver going to teach us about him now?!?! I used this book for fluency, expression, character feelings and as an intro to our reader's theatre unit.

Here's the scoop on Moose:

Once upon a time there was a Zebra who was putting on a play about all the letters in the alphabet. They all had their part: the apple, the glove, everyone knew when it was their turn. Except Moose. Our overeager friend comes on during D's turn. He is very sad when Zebra tells him it's not his turn and he runs right into the elephant on the next page. 

He spends the next 6 letters asking if it's his turn, awaiting with excitement for the M. Sadly, they "decide to go with the mouse instead". 

Moose is LIVID. He storms through several pages, smashing the pie, terrorizing the queen and using a red crayon to draw moose antlers on everyone. He is later found crying behind the xylophone. Zebra relents and lets him be in the play as Z: Zebra's Friend Moose. It's an adorable story full of lots of emotions and opportunities to use mad/sad/happy/etc voices.

There you have it! My all-time favorite book. Click the cute icon below to see other posts about great books!! Can't wait to read about yours :)

Summer Bucket List

Looove Deanna's idea for a link-up all about SUMMER.

We have just 3 and a half days left in school so I can practically touch summer. My list is half bucket list/half plans I already have.

1. Ace my first 2 graduate school classes! I started my Master's program 2 weeks ago & want to graduate with a 4.0!

2. Spend quality time with my friends! I'm still very close with a group of girls from my sorority pledge class. Even though we group text all the time sometimes, I want to see them in PERSON. We did so well at the beginning of the year with birthdays, holidays & engagement parties. Luckily one of them is getting married in three weeks so we will all reunion soon for the bridal shower, bachelorette party & wedding day!

3. READ. I love reading. Apparently I'm not the only teacher who does, because this has been on just about every list I've read. Check out my Pinterest board of books that are on my wish list! Also, wanting to finish the Divergent series; I'm on the last book!

4. Speaking of my Pinterest, I need to organize my hot mess of teacher boards. I have 3 teacher boards: one for teaching ideas, one for anchor charts & one of classroom inspirations. Lately, it's been hard to figure out WHERE things are. I didn't want to be "that girl" with 100 boards of different teaching things, but I'm not in college anymore so teaching pins are 99% of my pins anyway. That and animals. I have a problem with animal pins.

5. Get off the couch and work out. I've been wanting to make this a priority for a long time, but it never happens. Maybe this is the summer I'll do it!

6. Binge-watch Netflix. Orange Is The New Black, Private Practice, Scandal. Oh and old episodes of Grey's Anatomy for no reason except that it's my favorite.

7. Go to California! I haven't been on a vacation in awhile and I am so excited! Can you believe that every family vacation we've been on has been on the East Coast?! We've never gone all 5 of us to the West Coast. I can't waaaaait!

8. Of course, thinking about teaching. I can't turn my brain off for the summer completely! I'll be reading professional development books, spending unnecessary amounts of money on things from Really Good Stuff, Lakeshore & Scholastic. I have a problem. I have tons of little projects I've been holding off on until summer. I want to make a banner of covers from hardback books. Like this one from Maria. I am also creating a leveled library in addition to my already themed library. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?! Oh, and buying some sort of math manipulative organizer. I'M THE WORST.

9. Looking into becoming a Stella & Dot stylist. I love the jewels and know someone who already sells it. I miss working at Express and styling people, but I'm not sure if I really need another job?!

10. Spending time working at the preschool! I love working with kids with autism and have been a teacher's assistant in the summer before. I'm so excited to spend time with some little ones.

What are you planning for summer?

My First Stitch Fix!

IT CAME.

I have been waiting a month for this baby to come in the mail and I couldn't be more excited!

For those of you who don't know - here's the scoop on Stitch Fix. It's a website where you fill out a survey about your style, sizes, what fits you like - a "style profile". Then you pay $20 for a stylist to read your profile, stalk your Pinterest fashion page & pick out 5 items for you. Then you try everything on at home. That's the beauty of this. How many times have you gone shopping and thought - oh I wish I had my scarf/cami/tank/pants/shoes to try on with this?  NOW YOU CAN. And the stylists even make it idiot-proof with styling cards like this:

You also fill out information about price ranges you are comfortable with for different types of clothing (accessories, pants, dresses, tops, outerwear, etc). They stay in your budget and that $20 styling fee? Yeah, it goes towards the clothes in your fix that you want to keep. AND if you keep everything, you get a sweet 25% discount.

As of now, Stitch Fix has clothing, jewelry, accessories & bags. Everything I got in my fix was clothing! Here's my reveal and review :)

First, we had this amazing dress! Not going to lie, I have a couple similar to it (obviously my stylist got my vibe!) but this one is chiffon and long enough to teach in.

This was a KEEP.

Modeling the dress with my new wedges! Don't mind the forlorn dog.

Next was this blazer. Not a fan. It felt very "grandma" to me. Definitely out of my style comfort zone. But I do appreciate my stylist giving me something out there to try!

Third was this cute tulip print top that I PINNED two weeks ago! How crazy is that?! I'm telling you, these stylists pay attention. And use your Pinterest board if you provide the link (which I'm recommending if you haven't caught onto that yet).

The price was a little higher than I would have normally spent on a top, but c'mon I pinned it. How often do you actually BUY something you pin, amiright?!

This was a KEEP.

Fourth was this adorable top. By the way, sorry about the hair. Long days in first grade, you know how it is. I love this color and this is such a versatile top. I can wear it with shorts in the summer or with a cardigan for teaching!

This was a KEEP.

Last was a pair of skinny pants. Let's just say they were a little too skinny ;) Nobody needs pictures of that!

If you're interested in trying out Stitch Fix, click here. That's my referral link - if you liked my recommendation and decide to try out Stitch Fix using that link, I'll get $25 in credit (enough for another fix!).

I had a BLAST getting a Stitch Fix! My style profile is updated with some summer wants: maxiskirts/dresses that actually fit my 5'2" body, printed shorts that don't clash with my ghost legs and more printed tops! I've already scheduled my next one for June 17th so stay tuned :)

Linking up with Maria from KinderCraze for her Stitch Fix Link Up!

Life Happened.

Wow! So much to share, friends.

It's been awhile. I guess that life just happened. But, I'm back and feeling very reenergized. I have just 8 and a half days of school left. I have to box up and move my entire room by the last day of school. I have report cards to do. I have end of the year summer workbooks, awards, and gifts to prepare. I have just started my Master's. And yet, I feel energized. This must have been why I kept so busy with classes, activities, work & my sorority in college. The busyness just keeps me going.

Here's what I've been up to. We are having SO. MUCH. FUN. lately. We are doing Reader's Theatre until the end of the year. Here are some cute anchor charts I whipped up for my firsties:

This first one is from Pinterest. Not sure who came up with it originally (sorry!), but it's genius. It totally MAKES SENSE to my kiddos. Fluency has been a big focus for Reader's Theatre in the past few weeks so this is perfect.

This one is actually an original. Shocking, I know. 99% of my anchor charts are copies from Pinterest. This is allllll me :) We refer to this everyday. My firsties totally know what 3 things they need to do to become their characters in their acting. I have quite the little actors in my class, let me tell you!

This week we will audition for parts for our plays and begin practicing them. The past few weeks we have been just working with our partners on being characters in books from our book boxes. They have been doing a great job with it. They're ready to make the leap to reading scripts! So proud of them!

We ALSO had Teacher Appreciation Week. GLORIOUS. Our PTA was incredible! They went with a  Movie Star theme & went above and beyond with decorations:

^apparently I'm married ;)

^I die. 

You can tell they let any kids write on these; my firsties wouldn't write anything with a hashtag haha!

I received so many gorgeous flowers from my friends!

Speaking of flowers. Here's ME in flower form! Haha.

We wrapped up our flower/plant study with this cute craftivity from the lovely Cara Carroll. You can find it on TPT here.

We made these cute, simple crafts for Mother's Day. It was one of my teammate's ideas. Simply have each student trace their hand on green paper and use die cut flowers and baskets to make the bouquet. I also didn't get any pictures but my kiddos also made Haley's free All About Mom booklet. They turned out SO cute!

Anyone else's laptop look like this all the time? We are living the Go Noodle life in Room 102. It has been SUCH a lifesaver. We did Flow the other day and it was AWESOME. I keep testing out new ones with my kids to see which ones I like!

SADLY I haven't been doing very good at taking pictures of my outfits lately. I did splurge on some Tory Burch Reva flats with my tax refund and am dying to get some pictures with them on. It's been rainy so I haven't been wearing them too much & am still trying to break them in!

I also purchased my teacher planner for next year. I have (and love) my current Erin Condren planner but went with a different cover this time around. I can plan a blog post later about how I use mine if some of you would like to see how I use it! I know it seems weird to still write it out but that's the way I remember everything! I would be lost if I didn't write things down. Here's the NEW one I ordered. Get 20% off ALL MAY on teacher items with the code: LIVELOVELEARN.

Annnnnd I signed up for Stitch Fix! I am dying of excitement. After seeing Maria post about her Stitch Fixes, I just knew I had to sign up. It's coming Tuesday so expect a blog post about it!

I'm hoping to keep everyone posted over the summer about my preparations for next year. I'm planning some reorganization of my math manipulatives AND adding a leveled library to my classroom. It's going to be a LOT of work, but I am so excited! Here's a sneak peek of something new coming to my classroom. I snagged this beauty for just $20 at a yard sale (a total steal!):

When does YOUR summer start? What changes are you planning for next year?

XtraMath, Anyone?

Math is my life. Seriously. I love teaching math, I love seeing my students problem solve and I love seeing them utilize strategies for adding and subtracting numbers. But let's get honest, sometimes they just need to PRACTICE addition and subtraction facts. In my classroom, we take timed tests every Tuesday & Thursday. We graph our data to see how we are improving. But I'm always looking for more ways to trick my kids into learning :)

So I'm here to share an ah-mazing resource I just started using. As a first year teacher, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone & their brother already uses this.

XTRAMATH. It's a fluency website for students to practice their math facts. We started it today in my classroom. First, the kiddos take a placement test. Then you have them log on everyday to practice. The site will have them work for a certain amount of time before logging them out.  

It's perfect for my class. We get a short drill of fluency practice and I don't have to take the time to think about when to tell them to log off. THE COMPUTER DOES IT FOR ME. Brilliant.

My favorite part is that when it prompts the students to log off, it leads them back to the main screen with all the kiddos' names on it. Every student that has completed their task for the day gets a checkmark by their name. You can easily see who hasn't done their assignment yet. You can even mark students as absent!  We have 6 laptops so it makes my life so much easier since the kiddos work in shifts. Tomorrow I'm going to have the students just find the next person without a check by their name after they sign off. Easy peasy!

Check out more information about XtraMath here. They even give a checklist to set it up in your classroom so you don't forget anything :) Love!

Have you ever heard of XtraMath? Do you use it in your classroom? How do YOU have students amp up their math fact fluency?

Have a great week,

Shelby

Shop Til You Drop

Happy spring!  While I could not be happier that snow is ending, my allergies are going to be the end of me.  I don't think I've been able to breathe normally for the past 2 weeks.

Today I want to talk about some of my FAVORITE products I've purchased recently from Teachers Pay Teachers.

These are amazing labels from First Grade Glitter and Giggle.

As you may remember, I went through a long process of redoing my classroom library. That tends to be a necessity when you are a first year teacher with over 400 books. Oops. However, I organized my books by theme/character NOT level. I have a ton of leveled books filed away in a cabinet (due to lack of shelving in my classroom) so I pull books for my kiddos. I'm really not a huge fan of that whole situation.  One of my summer projects will be buying MORE of my beloved neon book bins from Really Good Stuff and organize the books from my file cabinet into those.

I'm interested in getting MORE good leveled readers.  Any suggestions??

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know how much I love Susan Jones' products.  This one is no exception!  I've struggled with figuring out how to incorporate money into the year when it's not part of the Common Core for 1st grade. This unit is PERFECT! When we come back from spring break (Monday), my grade level is starting data and measurement. We will be taking a mini break from our curriculum in that unit to focus on money for a week. I couldn't be more excited to use this great resource!

One of my other favorite TPTers is Haley O'Connor. I have purchased plenty of her products in the weeks I've been away from blogging. However, this is one of my favorites!

This product is everything I have ever wanted for the end of the year AND THEN SOME.  I can't wait to see how much I love it when it's time to put it to use.

I absolutely adore this seller.  She makes the BEST no prep packs I've found on TPT, hands down. Everything is Common Core aligned, not to mention adorable. I bought this packet, printed it, stapled it & sent it home with my firsties for spring break! I'm anxious to see how much they got done!!  I have her fall and winter packets and am trying my hardest to wait for a sale for the spring packet. (read: I have an addiction to TPT).

However, hands down my favorite product I bought over the last month has to be…

Let me just say, WORTH EVERY PENNY. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm Teacher of the Year or anything - I need help with guided reading. It's one of those things where I know I'm helping the kids but I know I could amp it up a little, too. This is seriously an incredible product.  Go look at it.  Not to mention, it's on sale right now.  Thank you sooo much Rachelle for helping a new teacher out!

Now, I don't want you to think that I'm just spending money on teacher things on my break. I still have a life outside of school! Today was an incredible sale at Express (all dresses 30% off!) - not to mention I had a coupon. I got $50 off of this gorgeous dress.  I decided it was a must because of the sale and the fact that we have spring pictures Friday. Yes, the awkward ones where all my kids are on risers and I stand next to them. Please tell me I'm not the only teacher out there who has to endure this.

Next up? I'm basically spending the rest of my break watching Breaking Bad on Netflix and eating. Definitely need to start thinking about getting back into a regular schedule.

I'll be back in a few days to show you WHY I need your help with organization.

Have a great weekend,

Shelby

MIA.

It's been insanely too long. Prepare yourself for an ultra long post. My internet has been super bizarre and slow. It seems to work on every other device in my house EXCEPT for my MacBook.

I have done a lot in the almost MONTH hat I have been absent. Let's sum it up in some pictures:

This basically sums up my last month. An explosion of STUFF. We finished up our character unit with character book clubs; that's all the stacks of books nicely marked with Post-its. The obscene amount of lamination are all of the Cara Carroll goodies that I got printed. One of my student's parents cut it all - BLESS HER. There was even more of that hidden in my cabinet as well.

Anchor Charts Galore!

This puppy was for working on our opinion writing. We did book reviews to finish up the unit. It was crucial to have a good chat about not giving away the entire book in a review. That is a VERY hard thing to do when you are oh-so excited about the book!!

 This is for our new unit in Lucy Calkin's Units of Study - we are on Unit 4 where the kiddos are writing realistic fiction pieces. They are LOVING it!  I have a problem where I only draw redheaded stick people. I blame it on never having enough ginger role models as a child :)

THE LONG AWAITED LIBRARY REVEAL! Guys, I can't even contain my excitement. This is the BEST thing to happen to my classroom since all the wonders over the summer. Seriously, this brings me so much joy. I love organization. I love color coordination. I love books. This is a combination of all of those things.

The bookshelf is still the same ol' scary one I bought off someone's yard for $10. The bins are from Really Good Stuff. They are the same as my kiddos' book boxes. I never thought to use them for my library until I saw some on Pinterest! The labels are from TPT made by the lovely Danielle Mastandrea. I also have her math manipulative labels (a summer project), book stickers (another summer project) and word wall cards (actually up in my classroom).

Don't mind the 3 bins without labels (seriously, they are driving me insane). I'm ordering them! The books in there (in case you're curious) are Fly Guy, Pinkalicious and all of my National Geographic Kids books.  If you have ANY questions about my library or how I organized it, please comment. I am happy to share. I've already inspired one of my teammates to redo her entire library, too. Oops!

 Now onto things that are actually happening RECENTLY. This has been the most insane week. We had a snow day Monday, our first grade dress rehearsal/musical on Tuesday, field trip on Wednesday…today was the first day I've actually had a normal schedule! Soooo nice.

This was how we spent our morning yesterday. AH-mazing. My kids were in tears, they were laughing so hard at this show. We came back for a little lunch in the classroom and did some opinion writing about the show. We also did Venn Diagrams comparing the book and the show. Annnd I forgot to take pictures of it!

This was my life today. In preparation for report cards, I am figuring out some ways to take data on my kiddos' progress. Praise the Lord for Susan Jones. Seriously. I would DIE without her amazing TPT products, especially this. All of the papers all over my desk are from that packet :)  Can't wait to see what all my kiddos have learned!

Annnd here's a little bit of my personal life, if you're interested.

This is my fab sister. We went tubing at a little ski resort type thing in Kansas City last week. It was for people with special needs & their families. There were SO many incredible people there. We had a BLAST.

This is my super fun outfit for the Mardi Gras themed wedding i went to last weekend!

Here's the deets on the outfit:

Top: Express, Necklace: Francesca's, Skirt: Delia's (old)

Thanks so much for catching up on my life! I hit the TPT sale last weekend HARD so I am hoping to do a (super delayed) post this weekend about what all I bought.

Have a great last day of your week!
Shelby