Classroom Photos & June 12

Some kiddies and I rearranged my room last week and I wanted to give you a peek inside!  I posted similar pictures last summer, but now it's all in a new place!

 Here's the view from the door... set up and ready for my summer school kids!

 This is our meeting area.  I LOVE having my little people on their spots on the rug while we learn together!  Couldn't make it without my easel either!  

 Here's our library.  You can see our CAFE wall peeking out on the right and our poem of the week in the middle-ish.

 All about Michigan!

 I have lots of chapter books for enriching my readers during Daily Five.  The top shelf has books staked twice thick.  We love them!  On the bottom shelf, you can see my sight word kits from Lakeshore.  I believe they are not available anymore, but they are AWESOME.  If you can find them, you should buy them!

 Here's my small group area with my little easel, three-drawered containers in the back for my guided reading group materials, and other reading "stuff" on the shelf behind me.

This is that shelf with other reading "stuff".  I have my Treasures readers in bins on the bottom shelf (units 1 and 2 ready for the fall!), fluency readers, and word work things on the top shelf.

 This is my listening area.  I will be retiring the books on tape & tape player after summer school, as I'm hoping to get some iPod Nanos from my Donor's Choose proposal this summer.  It's the end of an era!

 Ok- colored bins are for my math workstations, the red pocket charts are for Daily Five choices, the three-drawered containers are for paper for the writing center, student mail boxes are black.  On the right, you can see my awesome pencil sharpener.  Those baskets hanging from the bookshelf on the right hold my homework for my 2 grade levels.  And there are some math things in bins on that bookshelf too.

Here's my math wall.  There's a pocket chart with vocabulary words that needs to get put up too- it's missing since the classroom rearranging!

 My students LOVE reading a book with a partner and then coming to this door to do a "somebody-wanted-but-so" summary!  You can find the cards in my Little Critter pack on TpT or TN.

 This is our partner reading "check for comprehension" basket.  Love the wands from Lakeshore!  Ms. Fiorini's fiction and non-fiction "Walk and Talks" are in here too and they are a FAVORITE!  In the bottom are comprehension eggs!

See this thing?  We love to sit on it to read... hence the messy blanket!  Next to it are hula hoops for students to have their own personal space while sitting inside of it and a pink folding beach chair for reading on which always causes drama at the beginning of the year as everyone wants to sit on it!

Now... lift the lid of this amazing wooden box and here's what is inside:

 

an absolute mess of bulletin board things!  No matter how often I clean this out or how neatly I put things away, it always looks like this when I open the lid!

So, there you have it!

On a side note- today is a special day!  It's my 8 year anniversary with my wonderful husband AND it's my grandma's birthday.  We were so very close and she died unexpectedly the year before my wedding, so to honor her forever, we got married on her birthday... and, just one more tidbit of knowledge, it was also she and my grandpa's anniversary!  :)  June 12 is a special day around here.

Here's what my hubby sent me while I was at summer school today:

So, we're going to go out for dinner tonight!  Yay!  Not sure yet where we're going... a restaurant in our area got a make-over from the Food Network Show "Kitchen Impossible" with Robert Irvine two weeks ago!  We talked about going there... so... maybe!

What I Love About Summer... and Summer Reading Linky Party!

I love waking up and not knowing what the date is!  :)

After summer school, I cleaned my house.  I hope I'm not the only one who always plans to clean the house but then works on school stuff or blogs or blog stalks instead?  Well, I actually cleaned *most* of my downstairs today!  Whoot whoot!

And...

Since I got my Nook on March 2nd- yes, I know the date.  I love that Nook of mine!- I have read 19 books.  Do you remember when I was a crazy anti-Nook lady?  You know- when Barnes and Noble had a picture of me hanging in their store somewhere, forbidding anyone from ever selling me a Nook?  Ok- maybe they really didn't, but they should have!  Well, I'm officially in love!

 

Here's what I've read since I got it:


Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Please Ignore Vera Deitz by AS King
The Curse Workers Series by Holly Black (White Cat, Red Glove, Black Heart)
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
TRASH by Andy Mullican
Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Nothing by Janne Teller
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Bossypants by Tina Fey
The Gemma Dolye Trilogy by Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing)
Feather by Jacqueline Woodson
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

They are all so good!  If you're going to read one... make it Where Things Come Back or Please Ignore Vera Deitz.  If you want to laugh hysterically... Bossypants.  

I just started Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.  So far, so good!  It's sort of a cross between the City of... series by Cassandra Clare and The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.  I'll blog about it at The Best Endings when I'm done!

What do you recommend?  Link up and share!  Feel free to snag the button below for your blog too!

School's Out For Summer (or tomorrow, whichever comes first)...

Well, on Thursday, the bell rang at 11:30 and my sweeties departed for the summer.  I can't celebrate yet, because summer school starts tomorrow.

I teach 2nd grade summer school (for kids going in to 3rd) and it lasts the rest of the month.  So... there's that.

Yesterday, my hubby and I gave our bedroom a makeover... paint, curtains, new bed paraphernalia, and new things on the walls.  It was fun and so TIRING!  I'll try and post a pic so you can see that now my bedroom actually looks like two successful 30-somethings sleep in it every night!  :)

And, last... have you seen Lori's giveaway for reaching 500 followers?

Click the picture to enter!

Am I the Only One Who...

cried on the last day of school?!

I always get teary eyed, but I haven't CRIED with for-real wet tears running down my cheeks and sniffles since my first year teaching ended in 2007!

Well, yesterday I cried.  And cried.  It was so hard to say goodbye to my kiddos... especially since I've had half of them for two years!  I was blessed with a very special group this past year and I'm going to miss them!

I do teach summer school, which begins on Monday... and I do have three of my own kiddos in my class, so I'll get to be with a few of my friends for the rest of June anyway.

On a brighter note, I had been working on a "silent letter pack" for a looooong time.  It was supposed to be finished so I could use it when I introduced this a few months back and I just wasn't inspired enough.  Well, I've gotten little bursts of inspiration every here and there and last night I finished it!  I especially love the "Papa Gnome's Comedy Club" activity- 12 riddles that have answers that rhyme and include silent letters.  Can you guess the answer to this one?  What do you call a tiny, chubby flying insect?  Go to the end of the post for the answer!

 Check it out on TpT or Teacher's Notebook

Did you cry on your last day of school?  Tears of joy or sadness?  :)  Let's hear about it!

And last... I'd love to hear about any "last day traditions" your school has.  At my school, we go out and wave goodbye to the buses on the last day.  I love doing that!  This year we also water ballooned our students- we threw the balloons at the ground and not at the kids... but I did get my sweetheart who gave me a run for my money at times!

And where I student taught, the 5th graders did one final walk of the halls and took carnations to all of their former teachers on the last day of school! Just leave me a comment with your e-mail and share your tears or traditions!

Answer to the riddle... A fat gnat!

Something Interesting and a Wednesday Miracle!

First- something interesting...

one of my reading groups just wrapped up a book group for "The Littles" and the last task they had to do was write about their favorite part of the book.  Every boy in the group wrote about the part in the book where the family attacked the mouse.

And every girl wrote about when the cat and Tom Little became friends.

My boys wrote about violence and my girls wrote about friendship.

Obviously boys and girls prefer different things and boys tend to focus more on the physical and girls the emotional... but I just thought it was interesting how, out of all of the parts in the 11 chapters of that book, the kids (who worked independently on the writing piece) chose the same two parts and the response was so polarized.

It just fascinated me!

And now... for the Wednesday miracle...

If a student drops a pencil in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?  That's a thing, right?

Well, my kiddo didn't drop his pencil in the woods, but he did drop it on our floor and this is what happened:

It landed just like that- point in the carpet and all!

Needless to say that, on the half day before the last half day of school, even pencils are exciting to us.  And, of course, a picture had to be taken to preserve this Wednesday miracle in our minds forever!

Tomorrow's the last day and I'm SAD!  I did get my report cards and CA60s finished yesterday, so today after our delicious lunch, I began rearranging my room with the help of two of my students who were in their building with their moms.  Tomorrow we're doing to put the finishing touches on the move, have a board game day, and then the kiddos go at 11:30!

Summer school starts Monday!

Monthly Diaries- an instant writing portfolio!

We are wrapping up our last writing in our "monthly diary"... and we had so much fun looking back through old entries and seeing how we've changed as writers!

I start in September (actually, the first day of school in October) and we fill out a calendar with all of the events that took place in September.

Then we brainstorm an event and write about it.  Students choose an event off the calendar or something from their own life that happened that month.  We do this every month and then, at the end of the year, they have an instant portfolio to showcase their growth... not to mention a great keepsake!

Before school starts, I copy and three-hole punch a set for every student with the calendar page and then the diary for each month.  I put them in a 3-prong folder- which we use all year as our writing folders.  They store their everyday writings in the pockets, and the diary and calendar live in the middle.

Here we are working on filling in our calendar.  I write and project while they fill in their copies.  We go through each event together and they hold their pencils up when they are done.  Then I write the next event, etc...:

 And then they do their diary page!  We always draw a picture when we're done.

I have this available in my TpT and Teacher's Notebook shops.  The file contains primary and intermediate lined papers.

Ginger from Ginger Snaps is having a giveaway to celebrate 1,000 followers and this is the item I'm contributing!

 TpT     Teacher's Notebook

The Best Pencil Sharpener on the Planet

Have you seen this thing?

It is AMAZING.

Talk about quiet!  And quick!  And SHARP!

This sharpener has made something I dread about my morning routine quick and painless.  My students, after going through a training session with me on how to correctly use it, love this thing... they are thoroughly impressed with how sharp it can get a pencil.  I love that it's so quiet and easy.  And it knows when a pencil is sharp, so it stops sharpening... so pencils can't get ground to a nub in a single sharpening!

I know you are all gearing up for next school year and I promise you that, if you were to purchase this and add it to your classroom in the fall, you would NOT be disappointed!

Head over to Classroom Friendly Supplies to order one or find other feedback on this tool if you need more convincing!  It's amazing!

End of the Year Parent Survey Freebie!

I have four days left... and I'm getting a little sad!  I've had half of my people for two years now and I'm sooo going to miss them!

I'm working on wrapping up my end of the year stuff this weekend.

First on my list is to finish my classroom awards.  We have a general awards assembly as a school, but the awards are academic, attendance, and citizenship and I have a few kids who won't receive an award.  So, I always do awards in my classroom too after the assembly.  Everyone will get an award at that time.  I know it's important that kids understand that you have to work hard to get awarded, but they get to learn that lesson during the big assembly.  In my room afterwards, I want everyone feeling good and getting something!

Here are the awards I'll be passing out... I made awards for everything from academic stuff to kindness to sharing to having a clean desk to someone who always is humming or singing a tune to share their love of music with the class!

Check them out on TpT- I'm keeping them at a sale price until my last day of school!

Last week I sent home an end of the year parent survey to get some feedback on classroom things so I can plan for next year.  You can get a copy of the survey at my TpT or Teacher's Notebook shops for FREE!

Find it on TpT or on Teacher's Notebook

Most of my parents sent them back on Friday and they've given me some good feedback and some happy notes too!  :)

Monday is our "Homework Hall of Fame" pizza party for the students who were in the homework club every month for the year.  I'm so thrilled that, for the 2nd year in a row, 100% of my students had 100% homework completion for the year!  Now, that does mean that once in a while someone didn't do their homework but then did it the next night and returned it.  But I'm pretty psyched!  They couldn't WAIT for me to tell them who was invited to the pizza party... so I got to do a lot of "after we're done working quietly for the next 10 minutes, I'll let you know who is in the hall of fame"... sneaky sneaky!

Happy Saturday!

Friday Funnies

My kiddos have been full.  of.  it.  this week!  I'm so sad about saying goodbye next Thursday!

But, I did have some good funnies to share with you from today.

1.)  I say to grouchy girl, "Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed today?" and she replies, "No.  I can only get up on one side of my bed because it's pushed up next to the wall".
2.)  Read this with a southern drawl, which is odd because we live in Michigan, "I been drinkin' caffeine my whole life and I look goooood".  I love the conversations we have on Friday during Lunch Bunch!
3.)  Yesterday we watched our end of the year DVD which featured pics from our December hot cocoa bar.  I had a request to watch it again today and one of my little boys said, "Wow, Mrs. Bainbridge.  When you hold a cup of cocoa in your hands, you really look young!".

Happy Friday, friends!

AND... I actually updated my students' blog today!

Check it out if you haven't!  I promise to be more diligent with my new crop of kids in the fall.

Daily Five- a refresher!

Now that the school year is almost over (7 days here!), I've heard from lots of teacher friends via e-mail who have questions about how I do Daily Five in my class.  I just wanted to do a quick Daily Five refresher.

Soooo... click on the picture below to see all of my Daily Five posts.  You can even get that freebie on one of the posts!  :)

Happy Monday!