Crate Seats and Cheap White Erase Boards

I saw this super cute idea on ProTeacher and just had to create some myself. You can click {here} to the original post and pictures. I set out today to make my own set. Here's the what the final set looks like (please excuse the picture quality from my Iphone).  P.S. I know the spacing is a little funky but Blogger is not cooperating with me at all tonight. :/  

                                                      
Now onto how we (my hubby and I) made these today.

I headed out to get all the supplies I needed. Let me start by saying that dragging 5-year-old triplets along to shop

for cutesy stuff for your classroom does NOT make for the best shopping experience for yourself or the other customers. I found my crates at Target for less than $4. They had black, lime green, aqua, and pink ones. You're also going to need cute coordinating ribbon, some board, something to cover the seat, adhesive glue, and some little tacks.

To cover the seats, I used bath mats that I found at Target. I found these at Target for about $4 a piece. My husband found a nice piece of board at Lowe's that was already sanded on both sides and big enough to make 3 seats for about $13. He was kind enough to cut each piece to fit right inside the crates and rest on the inside lip. I used these pieces to trace the correct size onto the mat and cut the pieces out.

We used this adhesive spray to attach the mats to the boards. Be warned that this stuff is SUPER strong spelling and should be used outside.

To be extra sure that the mats stayed put we used these little fabric u-shaped nails to secure them to the board.

We used those same u-hook fasteners to attach the ribbon to the bottom side of the boards.

And that's all there was to it! I plan on my students using these for independent reading time throughout the room. I haven't decided what I will use the storage area for yet.

On another note, did you know that Lowe's sells marker board that they will cut into pieces for you? I had heard other teachers mention this but hadn't gotten any myself until today. The marker board was less than $12, and it was big enough to be cut into 8 pieces that are about 16 x 12 inches in size.

Go Bake! ~ Making games is more fun than word lists!

Well, I didn't get any farther on my word lists for my 3rd Grade Word Study Units because it's pretty boring!!  Instead, I decided to do something a little more fun and made a new game that should finish off my first unit that focuses on words with short A and Long A CVCe words.  Between the Long A Skate game, Long A Birthday word to picture match {found here}, and this new Go Bake! game, I think I'll have enough activities to keep the kiddos busy and give them plenty of practice.  


Now the big question is.........do I make games for Unit 2 or go back to finishing the last 13 word lists??


Click on the picture to get your own copy!

Graphics from Scrappin Doodles.

3rd Grade Word Study

Last year, I used Words Their Way for my 3rd graders' spelling program.  There were a lot of things I did like about the program.  Mostly, the way spelling patterns were systematically introduced.  Due to time limits, I wasn't able to fully implement the program the way that I wanted.  I only had about 30 minutes daily to teach spelling and writing to my students.  Let's be realistic, there was no way to teach spelling or writing in a way that I felt like I was giving my students everything they needed (especially since they are below grade level).  I did have some students who were really good spellers and that was their strength.  Those students would move on weekly with the next word pattern.  Then I would have other students who would need weeks on the same pattern.  By the end of the year, I had students in 4 different groups, and it was a nightmare.

This summer I came across this GREAT post by Beth Newingham:

http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2010/10/my-november-top-ten-list-word-study-in-action.html

I LOVE the way she teaches and introduces the spelling patterns.  I really felt like this is something that could be doable this year for me.  I'm redoing how I teach reading and spelling this year.  I plan on focusing on a phonics pattern a week (such as my Long A CVCe Unit).  I decided that I would just focus on the phonics pattern and spelling pattern together each week.

1.  This will help me save time.  I can do it as part of my reading block.  My students that I do not see for Language Arts will still get the same instruction but just won't have to do the spelling tests or spelling homework.
2.  My students need this systematic instruction anyway and A LOT of practice in the spelling and reading of long vowel patterns.
3.  I hope that this can free up some time for me to teach writing next year.

So instead of making games the last few weeks, I've been busy working on the Word Study plan for spelling.  I've done the first 16 units for the year.  I really liked how Beth Newingham has setup her forms and plans, so I copied her format.  I hope to finish up the word lists for the rest of the year by next week (I have family coming into town this weekend).  Then I plan on tackling the games and activities that will go along with each unit.

I don't know if anyone will find this useful but here is what I have come up with so far.  It is pretty tedious finding the words and trying to not use the same words twice.  I hope I can be done with this part soon, so I can move onto the fun stuff........making and posting games!!!

Click the picture to view my lists. It's still a work in progress and will be completely updated once I have done the lists for the whole year (updated 1/7/12).