Donor's Choose Alert!!

Wanted:  New Books to Expand on Diversity

I recently created a Donors Choose project to fund an expansion of rich, diverse literature for my first and second grade class!

The first seven days are key to my project's success.  If you choose to give (any amount helps!), you'll receive updates and photos of this project in action and my students' sincere gratitude.  I can almost hear the chorus of thank-yous from my kids already!

Thank you for your consideration!  Please feel free to share this post with anyone who might have an interest in helping fund a project for a public school!

Five for Friday

Guess what?!  It's time for another Five for Friday post and I've got some fun stuff to share!!  I've linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Weekly Linky Party!

We had our family pictures taken a couple weeks ago by my sister-in-law and we just got them back this week!  They turned out fantastic and I couldn't wait to get them printed!  In fact I've already ordered my phone case (with this photo) and our Christmas Cards!!  I can't believe I'm already ahead of the game - until it's time to address the cards!

My kiddos, Kylie and Mason, have been asked to be in my brother's wedding on December 27th and they are very excited!  Kylie and I had a little night out this week and went shopping for the flower girl dress.  We also stopped for a bite to eat at her favorite restaurant - Qdoba!  Won't she make a beautiful flower girl?!

I finally got my writing station all set up and ready to roll!  The kids are excited to use the new options!  They most anticipated option is birthday cards!  I found this idea from a friend and loved it - the kids will make a birthday card for a student in our class if it's the week of their birthday.  If a student has a birthday over a non-school day (summer, winter break, etc) then we'll celebrate a little before, after or their 1/2 birthday.

This year for Halloween we left our neighborhood and headed to a friends'.  We enjoyed a yummy dinner and had a great time trick-or-treating with friends!  I was Elsa this year!  The students (and my kiddos) loved the outfit I made to wear!  Mason was Darth Vader and Kylie was Olaf!  It was a pretty cold evening, but the kids came home with a TON of candy!  Happy Halloween!

Friday was a professional development day (morning) and a time to work in your classroom (afternoon).  I have been teaching in my room for 8 weeks and decided I really wanted to be able to access the white board at the front of the room.  I previously had my classroom library at the front left of the room and it was blocking the white board.  So, I took a large chunk of time Friday to flip the front of the classroom and it really makes a lot more sense now!  The reading strategies bulletin board is right by the library!!  I hope the kids enjoy the new space!

Kohl's Cares & Mercer Mayer

Kohl's Cares & Mercer Mayer = 2 of my favorites!

I heard that these Little Critters were at Kohl's as a part of their "Kohl's Cares for Kids" campaign this month and I'm so glad I ran out to grab them this evening!  I got there and they only had 4 of the 5 titles remaining!  Luckily, I was able to pick up:  "Bedtime Stories," "Jack & the Bean Stalk," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "Hansel & Gretel."  The last 3 books are "lift the flap books - which add a little extra excitement to reading them!  

Little Critter stories are childhood favorites of mine and I'm so excited to be able to share them with my children and my students!  

This year, moving to second grade, I'm hoping to do something a little different with my classroom library!  I have a lot of books and coordinating stuffed characters from the "Kohl's Cares for Kids" campaigns over the years.  My goal for the upcoming school year is to put out a stuffed animal and a book as the "featured book/author" for the week in the library.  Then students can snag the book to read to the stuffed animal and/or a friend!  I'm hoping it's a hit in our classroom!  Have I mentioned I'm super excited to be heading back to 2nd grade this fall?!

Do you have any fun activities you do with your classroom library to keep things interesting?  Please take a moment to share what works well and what doesn't work as well in your classroom library in the comments below!