June Currently

I'm just posting quickly to join up with June's Currently from Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade.

June is here, which means report cards, tons of family birthdays, and the craziness that comes in the last month of the school year (both at home and at school)

 

Word Work Centres and Currently

Here's a peek into my morning today. I finally organized my literacy centres with some freebies from TPT.  I'll come back tomorrow and post the links to the creative people who made these wonderful centres, but of course, that info is at school, and I am here at home.  Ever have that happen to you?

As you can see, Some of these centres are seasonal, and out of season, but the kids don't mind.  And it's all I have for now.  Next year, I'm going to be super organized and make sure I dont' have to use centres out of season.  the kids love them though, and they're good practice, especially for early finishers.



And I'm joining up with Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade for her monthly Currently.
Here's mine.

 

Yeah I know that bucket list is more of a New Year Resolution list.

But it's what I want to do this summer.

 

Instagram and a Linky Party

There's a fabulous new idea over at What the Teacher Wants.

Every Tuesday they're going to host an Instagram linky party.

 

Currently they are hosting a linky party so we can hook up our usernames.

Below is my profile page, and my screen name is slfarrell6869.

 

 

Here's my button which I put up on my Instagram page.

 

And here's the link back to the linky party

 

Click here for What the Teacher Wants

 

and

 

Click here for Apples and ABC's

 

My favourite parts of my classroom...

Well, two posts in one week is rare for me, and three posts is purely unbelievable right?
Well I've been inspired to join up with this week's

Let's Get Acquainted  Linky Party

The idea is that you share your favourite 3 parts of your classroom.

So, given that my room is a complete mess at the moment, I had to spend a bit of time tidying before I could take photos.   My room is not perfect, it's not cute, but it's organized and it's comfortable.  A lot of learning goes on here, it's just not colour coordinated, pattern or theme based, or anything like that

Favourite Spot #1 - My teaching area

This is my absolute favourite part of my room.  Here we have my smart board which I use constantly.  Only 2 of 18 classrooms in my school have one of these, and I feel fully lucky to have one and I make sure I use it as much as I can.  Also in this picture is my laptop (my personal one) and my stereo from home that I use to teach music to 100 primary aged children once a week.   The final important thing in this photo is my purple sofa.  It looks brown in the photo, but believe me it's purple.  I bought that sofa before I met my husband and he hates it!   So when we moved into our current house, it got booted out of the living room and replaced with something more comfortable.  It's an apartment sized sofa, so perfect for a woman, but a bit small for a 6 foot 1 man.  So here it is.  So far the kids have not caused any damage - let's cross our fingers that it stays that way.   I often teach small groups on this carpet.  I sit on the sofa, or on the floor in front of it.  I put any materials I need up on the sofa, or beside me on the sofa.  I sit here to teach guided reading.  This truly is my favourite part of the room.

Favourite Spot #2 - My Book Nook

Here we have my second favourite part of the room.  This is my secondary teaching area because it's right in front of the white board.  I sit in the rocking chair when reading aloud to the class.  The special helper gets to use the rocking chair as well.  Behind the chair is one part of my class library.  This part has library books which I switch out each week, and two shelves of my novels for the more avid readers.  I also keep special books on the ledge so that the kids can read them after I have finished them.  Yesterday I read them the Lorax as you can see.  We're also working our way through the Mouse and the Motorcycle.

Favourite Spot #3 - Literacy Centres

So here we have my literacy centres.  We use them for Word Work when I do the Daily 5.  On the shelves are baskets of magnetic letters, a mini chalk desk from Fisher Price that I had as a child, small boxes of letter   and memory games, and then 4 tubs of centres that I have either made, or found on Teachers Pay Teachers. The top shelf has the Book Boxes for 2 of my reading groups (red and yellow groups)  We use them for Read to Self during the Daily 5.

Spring Linky Party

I was just surfing around blogland and I found a Spring Linky Party which I joined up with.  Click on the picture to hop on over for some awesome Spring Theme ideas!!

Hands Around the Earth

So here's a cute idea for Earth Day.

How about Re-Using newspaper for art?

Here's what we created this week in my class.

First, you need newspaper and a variety of shades of blue and green.

Next cover a page of paper with each colour.

Then, rip the paper into strips about 1 1/2" wide.

Then cut a large circle out of blue or green construction paper.  Sorry for the poor quality photo below.  I have a flowered tablecloth to protect my table, so it makes the project difficult to see.

I gave the children some of the strips of painted newspaper and showed them how to rip them into smaller squares and then the kids used gluesticks to create a collage.

I thought I would need to trim the edges, but the kids did a great job of staying close to the edge and I thought it gave the "earth" a more interesting look and added texture to the project.

I found the little foam people at the dollar store last year, but you can buy something similar at Michaels.  The kids loved adding the details to their little people.  For some reason Blogger keeps turning these photos on their side, so some of the people are upside down. Sorry for the mess.

Anyway, here's a look at the final project.  I love how bright it is.  And it was very easy to make.

Linky Party

I'm trying....

I'm really trying....

trying what???

Trying to post more frequently.  I love teaching, and I love creating materials, I just don't have as much time as I'd like because I'm a parent of 2 preschoolers  - ahhhh

Anyway, on to today's post.

I'm participating in a linky party over at "Oh Boy, Fourth Grade".  

Click here to check out her blog.

If you go over to her  blog you will find instructions on how to fill out the form.

You may not be interested, but if you are, please read below for my explanation of my answers.

Currently listening to Lady Antebellum's new album.  DH graciously loaded it onto my phone recently and I can't stop listening to it.  Great album.

Currently loving two weeks of spring break.  It started today!!!!

Currently thinking about packing for our trip to Cali.  Tomorrow the kids and I are driving to Seattle.  Then we are flying down to Palm Springs to spend time with my parents for a week.  Hubby is staying home to work on more flood restoration in our basement.

Currently wanting an end to our contract negotiations.  Without getting into the boring details, let's just say that being out on Strike for 3 days last week was a bit hard on the finances.  We might be facing illegal job action when Spring Break is over and I'm a bit afraid of the consequences.

Currently needing Sleep and Sunshine - need I say any more?

3 words that start with the first letter in my last name - Farrell

Family - the most important thing in my life

Fun - what my friends (and students) hopefully say about me

Friendship - a huge unit I have been working on at school - I'm sure my family is tired of me talking about it to them every day.

So don't forget to hop on over to

Oh Boy Fourth Grade to join the party!

What do you love Linky Party

I must be addicted to linky parties.  I tell you, I'm finding all kinds of cool blogs. 

 Most of them are linked on my sidebar now. 

The party is hosted by Kimberly at Funky First Grade Fun.

  Hop on over and check out the party!

Joining in the Linky Party!

I'm joining in a linky party. 

Farley is hosting a linky party over at

Oh' Boy Fourth Grade.  Hop on over to check it out.

Here's my answers for you to peruse. 

enjoy!