Bulletin Boards!

If you have decided your theme for this year, have you decided what your bulletin board will look like? I thought I would share two from my previous years to give you some ideas:

Back to School - Garden Theme Bulletin Board



Back to School - Safari Theme Bulletin Board



I hope these inspire you!

I am linking up with Fifth Grade Dugout: Back to School Bulletin Board Linky Party. Go visit her and see her cute bulletin board!

This year I will be in a portable building and so I won't get to do a bulletin board. Although some friends of mine were telling me I should be excited, this was one of my favorite things to do each year. I am really very sad! At least I have my pictures! :)


Before I forget.....

Fabulous in First
Click {here} to check out her giveaway!

Mrs. Plant's PressClick {here} to check out her giveaway! 

Simply Kinder Click {here} to check out her giveaway! 

Fun for First

Click {here} to check out her giveaway!  

Sweet Times in FirstClick {here} to check out her Giveaway!  

Sprinkles to KindergartenClick {here} to check out her giveaway!   Wishing you Luck!!! :)

And keep following me... I have some more goodies to share in the coming weeks! :)

Winner!

And the winner is.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Congrats Renee! I will be emailing you, so be checking your email!  And if you didn't win, you can still visit Skippyjon Jones Stuff by clicking {here} and visit his book website by clicking {here}.  Don't you love him?!!! :)

Thank you to Skippyjon Jones representatives for helping with this giveaway! :)

Keep following me and my blog, because I have something else you won't want to miss coming up real soon!!! :)

Skippyjon Jones

Who loves Skippyjon Jones????   I do! I do! I do!!

Kohl's Cares has a bunch of Skippyjon Jones goodies this month and with Kohl's being an hour a way, I ordered my goodies on-line! I love Kohl's!  (and if I spent $75, I got free shipping - woo hoo!! What a deal for me! - So I, of course, had to order more than just Skippyjon Jones!)

Then I noticed Kohl's had some other really cute stuff on clearance, so I ordered:

I plan to make Skippyjon Jones, his books and the backpack as a take home reader unit and let the kids write about their night with him. I just need to add a spiral and a cute pen! I think my Kinders will love it!

I have a sweet surprise for you, my awesome followers.....

The sweet people at Skippyjon Jones Stuff are letting me give one of you sweet followers this:

The Grande Official El Skippito Costume Set

It includes a Skippyjon Jones Backpack pull, hand screened cape, a felt mask, and some super cute plush ears! It is a $34.00 value! If you can't wait to win it - you can go {here}. (The ears fit both kids and adults!)

I am getting me one to wear for Halloween!  I know, that is over 3 months away - but it is never too soon to plan! You could be the cutest person in your school on Halloween! {Don't wait until the last minute, this is a one of their most popular items!}

They also have the cutest tees (for children and adults)  I guess I am going shopping! And I noticed that if you order something from their site, you can get some free "earmarks" - click {here} to check it out!

Do you want to win it {I know I want to win it!} - Then just fill out the Rafflecopter link below!

Make sure you leave me your email address so I can let the sweet representative of Skippyjon Jones Stuff contact you to mail you the Set!
Good Luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Classroom Themes

Do you have a theme for your classroom? I have been thinking of Polka Dots! A new year, a new theme! Our school is doing safari theme, but I want to try to something a little neutral - so each year I don't have to keep buying new border and decorations. I think this is something I could keep around for a while! :)

Now, what color to use???

(you can click on the pictures to go to the products if you are interested - I have not received these products, just happen to like them bunches!)

I DO have this carpet that I got from Lakeshore (actually it was a DonorsChoose project that was funded several years ago):

Lakeshore Learning - Getting Ready to Read Activity Classroom Carpet

(I love my rug! It is so durable and the colors look just as great as the day I received it!)

So I was thinking of using polka dots and saw this cute pack at her TpT store:

Kreative in Kinder blog

But wasn't sure about it matching my carpet. But it is just so stinkin' cute! She does have a super cute Zebra theme set:

Kreative in Kinder blog

Then I saw she had this set:

Kreative in Kinder blog -

If you go to her blog you can see all her cute classroom themes! You will love all of them - they are sooo cute!

Wow! The bright colors are soooo cute! What is a girl to do! I am such an indecisive person! I think she is making a primary color set, have to keep an eye out on Kreative in Kinder's Facebook page for that one! She always puts her sets half off the first day she posts them!

I was browsing Teachers Pay Teachers and I found these cute primary polka dots:

Erica Bohrer

If you go to her blog you can see the cutest polka dot classroom!

I am sooo hooked on polka dots! I need to just sleep on it and maybe it will come to me in a dream what I should do!!!

Next, I decided I needed to make some seats for my sweet Kinders to sit on. You know, the cute milk crate seats. Then I saw this blog post from Maggie's Kinder Corner:

Maggie's Kinder Corner

Go visit her for the how-to - It sounds super easy!!! :)

I soooo HAVE to make these! I love the vinyl seat cover idea! Wow - so cute! My new Summer project! :)

What is your classroom theme???? I would love to hear any and all ideas you have! Who knows, maybe I will change my mind! :)

And before I forget - you know I love giveaways and I sooo want a HearAll from Learning Resources and you can win one here:

Teaching with Love & Laughter

Birthday freebie!

My sweet little pumpkin had a birthday this week! :)

And of course he had a birthday party - a swimming party! We had fun... until the rain hit! Well, at least they got to swim for an hour and eat cake and open presents, and then the rain hit..... A success none the less and he loved his special day! Yay for little ones! They bring such joy to their mommy! :)

But I digress.... I made a label for his party favor - a easy, cheap party favor that anyone can do! In May I saw lots of "I had a ball in ...." tags and got the idea for his party favor:

The balls came from Target's Dollar Spot and I made the labels and attached them to the front of the packaging. Easy party favor - gotta love that!

If you like it, you can go to my TpT store and download the label for yourself! And while you are there, you are welcome to follow me!

Learning Resources Giveaway!

If you haven't visited Learning Resources lately, you need to! They have the most amazing products! Several blogs are giving away their HearAll Assessment Recorder. Did you read about it? Isn't it amazing! I could so see my class using it during Daily 5 time, to help with Reading Fluency, or to check to make sure all my students were correctly working in their centers! So many uses! If you would like to try to win one, head to these blogs: (just click on the pictures). And make sure you follow Learning Resources on Facebook to hear about all their great products! (And follow my Facebook page to hear about more great giveaways!)

Writing in my Kindergarten Classroom

This morning I read Mrs. Wills Kindergarten blog. She is doing a book study on the book In Pictures and In Words by Katie Wood Ray. Writing is one of my weakest areas, so I really need this book. I ordered it and can't wait for it to come in! I know once it comes in I will have a lot of catch up work to do!

Mrs. Wills discussed Chapters 1 - 6 this week and will be discussing Chapter 7 next week. You can download the schedule at Mrs. Wills Blog {click here}.

I try to build Stamina by giving my students time to write everyday. We begin the year with blank journals and in January we move to lined paper.  I also start the year with small golf pencils (or a regular pencil that I have cut in half - so it is the right size for their little hands).

I let the children the first few weeks decide what they want to draw. I ask them if they want to label their pictures or if they want me to. If they want to label, I work with them to write the word in their picture. (For example, if they draw a princess, I help them write the word princess). Eventually, I give them a sentence to copy off of the board. Later on, we work on finishing a sentence they copy off of the board and lastly they write their own sentences and develop their own stories.

I can't wait to get my book and read what I am doing right and what I need to fix.  I really want my Kinders to be successful writers!

To help my writers I like to use lists of words to help them with their writing. While blog stalking, I found the cutest little writing offices from Krazee 4 Kindergarten. You have to check them out! They are so cute! They fit perfectly in a school box! My Kinders would love that!

What do you do for Writing? Have you read In Pictures and In Words by Katie Wood Ray yet? Let's get our copy and read it all together! :)

Can't wait until next week to hear more of what Mrs. Wills has to say! :)

Book Organization and Giveaways - Updated

Fern Smith of Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas was a guest on Mrs. Stanford's Class today and gave some great ideas about organizing your classroom books.

I am addicted to Scholastic Book Clubs and have way too many books (if you saw all my books, you would think I was in need of an intervention), so I want to get those books organized in my new classroom this fall so my sweet Kinders can use them next year. I need some easy organization ideas. I can easily file away my favorites like Fern suggests, but that leaves me with way more books than I will ever need.

What is the best way to organize the rest for my class to use? I have seen so many posts about this in the past, but loved my organization at the time, so never gave it much thought. Now that I am moving into a much, much, much smaller classroom, I seriously need some ideas.

Did you post some ideas in the past you are willing to share with me? I am willing to buy some cute baskets (I know Lakeshore always has a sale in August. Does Really Good Stuff put theirs on sale? Do the Dollar store baskets hold up to wear and tear?)  I have seen some cute ideas about labeling, but what about space saving ideas?  Please share!

And if you have any other organization ideas for super small spaces, send them my way! I am ready to start fresh and organize! (I guess 10 years in one spot really was too long anyway, right?)

Now to a fun topic - Giveaways!

I love giveaways, don't you? Even if I don't win, the thrill of just trying is so exciting! Then I get all excited for those that do win! I feel like a kid in a candy store sometimes!

Here are a few I found and had to share! If I missed yours, leave me a note and I can always update this post! :) (click on the pictures to head to the giveaway)

Fun in First

Reading Toward the Stars!

Falling into First

The Corner on Character

T.G.I.F.

Primary Graffiti is giving away $25 Gift Certificate to Clever School Teacher Click Here for this giveaway

First Grade Blue Skies

Blogiversary Giveaway

Eberhart's Explorers

Leanne Baur's Creative Classroom

Two Crazy Texas Teachers

500 Follower Giveaway

Hurry! Some of these giveaways expire soon!

and follow me on Facebook - I try to post giveaways on FB as I find them!

Comment Code

I love comments, don't you? When you leave a comment, do you leave a link to your cute blog? Do you know how to put that cute link under your name?

If you need help, I would be happy to help you!

Just leave me your blog info and your email, and I will email you that code you need to link your blog on any comment you leave on someones blog.

And if you already know how to leave your link to your cute blog, why don't you do that so other people can click on it and visit you! :)

Hope you had an **Awesome** Monday! Here is to a **Terrific** Tuesday!

Summer is here!

Sorry I have been MIA! I took a much needed vacation and boy, it sure is hard to come back after having so much fun! (Do you ever feel that way? I keep looking at the clock and thinking... yesterday at this time I was.... anyway... sorry for the lapse!)

Can't believe Summer has rolled in! Time to catch up with my kids and time to read, read, read!

Do you use Daily 5? I would love to try it - so I bought the book and I am ready to dive in! Who is with me?

The sweet Tammy of Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten is having a book study on Daily 5 - Head to her blog and check it out!

The wonderful Mrs. Wills of Mrs. Wills Kindergarten is doing a book study on In Pictures and In Words - It starts June 22nd - so go grab your book and get ready!

And have you gotten in on all the giveaways lately????

 The wonderful Mrs. Miner has a HUGE giveaway

The sweet Jennifer of Herding Kats in Kindergarten is also having a Big giveaway

and I am in Love with Jennifer's Smelly Marker idea!

You HAVE to visit First Grade Blue Skies soon and check out her giveaway!

She is so super creative!

Lori from Teaching with Love & Laughter is giving away some amazing prizes! Visit her blog!

Well, I am off to some more Summer adventures with my wonderful kiddos!

Have you loved on your babies today??? :)