Hello August!

Well, I decided to head school today and stepped into this:

So much to unpack, organize and rearrange! I got a good start today, but am no where near done!

The first area I always organize is my reading area! 

I love having a classroom library. I think it is one of the most important parts of a classroom! If you want your kids to be readers, you need to give them lots to read! Thanks to a couple of donors choose projects, I have been able to build up my library quite a bit. (still need more though! Check out two of my projects here and here. :) ) I have also been able to get a lot of the lakeshore reading bins and love using those to organize my books! 

Last year I made some new labels for them that fit inside the little pocket in front of the bin. You can download them as a freebie! Go here to grab a set! 

Here is a little peak at what they look like:

I have them organized in different ways--authors, series, interest etc. My kids love the days when they get to check out books. I tried to have a picture with each one for some of my kids who need the visual! :) My leveled section I use some stickers I got from a Lakeshore pack because I change them around a lot depending on where my kids are at. There are a couple of blank ones too in case you have other bins you want to add (or for your leveled section)!

Target dollar spot has lots of good baskets for books too!

Pictures of my classroom coming soon, but it is NO where near ready! :)

TPT sale!

(graphic by more than math mo)

Teachers Pay Teachers is having their back to school sale!

Here are a couple of back to school items that might be helpful for you!

1. Worldly Word Wall

Each letter of the alphabet has a city and picture to match! I glued these to a sheet of construction paper and laminated. Then I taped our sight words underneath the letter! It was easy to take the letters off and start again each school year!

2. Classroom Job Chart 

 Let your students take off and land the every day jobs in your classroom! 

3.  Stamp a Sight Word

Do you every struggle to figure out what to keep your kids working on while you try to complete beginning of the school testing? This activity kept my kids busy, but ENGAGED, last year while I worked on mine! It was perfect practice as the year went on too! 

4. Handwriting Mad Libs

I used this activity later in the year, but if you are starting out in second or have a group of high flying firsties this would be a great beginning of the school activity! Your students can practice their handwriting, reading, and comprehension by tracing each story, and then filling in some words to help the sentences make sense!

Be sure to check out all the fun things in my store and download the freebies too! :) 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Inquiring-Our-Way-Through-First-Grade

Thanks!