Oh my goodness!! I have a little over week left of summer vacation. How is this possible?? I feel like it was yesterday that I was making my summer TO DO list...now here it is the end and I feel like I have only accomplished a few things on my list.  Ugh! Does this happen to you, too?

For this week's Wordless Wednesday with Sugar and Spice, I want to share one thing I DID accomplish on my list.

I have decided to give my classroom a makeover this year. I usually change things up often, but it seems like the last few years I have had the same set up and I'm bored with it. We spend so much time in our classrooms, I think it should be a space I love to be in.

 The work of Schoolgirl Style was the inspiration for my change. I purchased this set and I LOVE the color scheme! She has other AMAZING sets, but this one just caught my eye!

To give new life to some of the things I already have I decided to use give them a coat of paint. Spray paint is an inexpensive way to give your classroom a makeover. I brought home my rocking chair at the end of the school year and decided I would give it a pop of color with a coat of lime green paint. I cleaned it up. Sanded it a little bit and sprayed away. It was so easy and quick to do...about an hour of work! For the finishing touch, I'm going to add a blue seat cushion...when I find it!

 Instead of spending a ton of money on new baskets for my classroom library, I decided to give my few odd colored baskets a little spray paint makeover, too. Most of the baskets I already have are blue, so I think those will be fine with the color scheme. There were just a few out-of-place colors. I brought home this brown basket to use as my tester. I gave it a quick spray with the dark grey. I chose grey because I didn't want too many shades of blue on the shelf. I think this color will be a nice addition. I didn't do anything to prepare the basket. I just sprayed. The paint bonded well, but I'll let you know how it holds up during the year.
Have you ever painted plastic? Anything I should know before I spray the rest of them?
(I purchased the baskets at Target a couple years ago. I love them, but they don't seem to carry this exact style anymore. I'll make do with the ones I have.)


What is your theme or color scheme in your classroom? Have you done a recent makeover? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi all!
It's Tuesday and time for The Teaching Tribune's popular linky...
 

Today I have for you a BRAND NEW product on sale....

My Text Structure Resource Pack includes 5 anchor charts and 10 graphic organizers. The posters include the structure name, its definition, signal words, and questions to consider while reading. I created 2 organizers for each structure and I left the directions open so you could customize them to meet the needs of your students. These are great for practice, homework, or assessment. My students keep their organizers in their reader's notebook and I am able to easily assess their work during conferencing.

I love graphic organizers and how they allow students to work on the reading strategy or skill using their own level book. This set is also on sale today.
You will get 8 organizers detailed with the elements of different fictional genres. These can be used during a genre study, as book reports, practice of story elements, or assessment. Again, these are perfect for students reading any level book in your classroom. 

Take a peek at the preview on both products for a closer look. 

Don't forget to check out all the great products on sale today through the Two for Tuesday linky!

It's shopping time! Check out the great deals today from my store along with many others at 


I have two grammar products on sale today. The first is my Printable Grammar Posters. This set includes 10 display posters and 4 practice sheets for reinforcing the parts of speech. The brightly colored posters make a cute bulletin board display and the activities are perfect for homework, morning work, or assessment.


The next pack, Common and Proper Noun Practice Pack includes 6 practice sheets and a scoot game. All activities will challenge your students and get them thinking.

 Please check out the preview for both packs and to get a closer look at what is included.

I'm so excited to say that I finally reached 1,000 followers on TpT this week!! Let's celebrate! I'm adding one more product at 50% off today.

Super Parts of Speech Scoot is another activity you can add to your grammar study. Get kids moving around with this fast-paced game that can be used over and over. It's perfect for use as a formative assessment or use as task cards at a center. Students will practice working with nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. 

Happy Shopping!!!

I'm so glad that The Teaching Tribune has extended their Summer Bloggin' linky. Here is week 6 of the Monday Meet Up. 





Just checking in with a little randomness with Fabulous in First and the...




I hope everyone enjoyed a fun Fourth of July. It's one of my favorite holidays. Every year our best friends come over for a cookout. Some swimming. And fireworks. Our hubbies put on a backyard show with cheap fireworks from Walmart. They ventured into the "big boy" fireworks, but we had a scary close call on New Year's Eve so... sticking with the simple ones is safer. We love our show! 

We will be implementing the FAIR-FS (Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading-Florida Standards) as a beginning of the year reading screening and I'm a trainer for my district this summer (not loving going to work). The part of training I do find most valuable is getting the opportunity to connect with teachers around my county. It's interesting to hear about what is going on at different schools. We've heard everything from "we do every assessment there is" to "my principal doesn't require ANY assessments". How can schools and thinking be so different?

The training covers not only implementing FAIR-FS, but what to do with the data once it's collected. In my opinion, Running Records or an Informal Reading Inventory give me the most information about my readers and it's what I would use after using a screening tool like FAIR-FS. I meet with students to go over the results and to help them set reading goals for themselves. Two questions that start my beginning of the year conferences are "What do you think about yourself as a reader" and "What do you need to improve on as a reader". The kids blow me away with their responses. Nine out of ten times they are right on target. Some of my students seem surprised that I'm asking THEM what they need to work on. It's so important to involve kids in their own learning and to get that "buy in" from them. They are much more motivated to work towards goals they have helped set for themselves. I love conferencing and find the benefits far out weigh small group work. What reading assessments do you find useful in your classroom? Do you conference or teach small groups or a combination?

Social media is just buzzing with talk of the Las Vegas conference. (Are you going?) I won't be attending this year. I waited too long to purchase a plane ticket and then the prices were outrageous. I will be in New York City this time next week and I CAN NOT wait!! I'll keep my eye out for all your pictures and posts about Vegas! You can look for me in NYC!

Be sure to check back for week 6 of The Teaching Tribunes Summer Bloggin' linky. 

Please remember to link up your on going linky parties on my page, Linkys I {heart}. I hope to get a good list going. I think it will help to keep track of all the parties especially when school gets started again.

Have a great week!
I'm linking up with sweet Christina over at Sugar and Spice for

Look what I found on my front porch today...

My very FIRST ERIN CONDREN teacher planner! It's so pretty I hate to write in it!! The cover fits me to a tee and it's going to match my new classroom color scheme, too!! Happy Day! I love everything about it! I might need the Life Planner now.

Be on the lookout for a teacher planner/organizer linky coming in the near future.

Today I am marking down a brand new product...

All About Me Display Posters is a set of 8 posters all about getting to know students. Use as a back to school, get-to-know-you activity. Highlight a student each month and let them pick the poster they want to fill out and color. Perfect for the first week back activity, too. 

The first 5 posters have a specific theme: sports, movies, photos (my fave), jungle, and newspaper. Three of the posters don't have a specific them but can be used throughout the year: Student of the Month, Student of the Week, and Kid of Character. 

In my school, we focus on a character trait each month. My students vote (secret ballot, of course) on the student in our class they think shows that month's trait consistently and that student becomes our student of the month. They are pretty much spot on every time. I think it makes the recognition a little more special knowing you were chosen by your peers. I have a board set aside just to showcase that student. 

My second product on sale today is Batty Biographies.
In this fun pack, I guide you through a mini-research project about bats. Perfect for October! It includes a pre/post test, reading passage, research organizer, bat poem organizer, rubric, writing paper, and more!  Check out the preview for a closer look!

Hope you get a chance to take advantage of some awesome Two for Tuesday specials today!!

It's the first of July and time for the wildly popular CURRENTLY linky with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade.

Yes, it's summer and I'm up and getting ready to head out the door to work. I'm training teachers this summer (hardest audience EVER!) on an a reading assessment called FAIR. I'm a little nervous about it only because I don't really know much about it. I have a great partner so hopefully between the two of us we can knock this out. I'll be working most of the month of July except for one week that I will be in NYC with my daughter and best friend. Lily will be attending Camp Broadway that week and we are super excited to be back in the Big Apple!! I think the rest of my linky is pretty self-explanatory...right?? Hope you all have a great day!!

**BTW...if you host a regular monthly/weekly linky party, please link it up under my page, Linkys I {heart}. I'm trying to collect all the fabulous parties out there to help myself and everyone keep track! THANKS!**

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