I am so NESTING!

Friends~If you are like me you treat your classroom like it is part of your home!  I know that the end is near and that I am going to have to pack and store everything in my classroom but I can't stop myself from NESTING.  The urge to organize and make better for the New and Up and Coming BUNCH.  My kiddos laughed at me today as I put up my new classroom job icons.  "Why did you not do this earlier ?" they asked.  Well, I finally had time to make them:)  Even though we only have a few days left they were still excited to check them out.

I used to use a job board but I found that I need my bulletin boards for more interactive centers like my Overhead Center and my Phonics Dance Board.  I have found that by posting my classroom jobs above each student's cubby,  they are more apt to be away of their classroom responsibility.  It is a great visual reminder every morning!

Here are some of the jobs that I use in my classroom.  Every student has a job everyday.  I like all my students to be responsible for running our classroom from day 1!

My Table Captains are responsible for keeping our tables nice and neat, collecting papers and checking for names, and organizing our caddies of markers & crayons.

The Materials Expert passes out supplies to students for lessons.  This allows me a minute to prep or just breath:)

My Table Busser cleans our lunch table after we eat.  They also sweep the floor in the cafeteria. 

Board Magician is in charge of cleaning our many wipe boards in the classroom.

Attendance pulls down our smartboard calendar attendance pieces and announces the attendance to me so that I can record it into the computer.
My students love this job because my calendar is done entirely on the smartboard.  Click the link above or the calendar below to see my smartboard calendars.  Remember you can now us a Purchase Order from your school on Teachers Pay Teachers!

If you are interested in reading more about my classroom jobs you can check out my You're Hired printable that I just added to my TPT store.
Just click the image below!

Top Teachers SALEabration!

Friends~It's Top Teachers' Memorial Day SALEabration time! I'm having a 20% off Memorial Day Sale at my Teachers Pay Teachers store No promotion code is needed!  Just CLICK HERE to grab some of my fun end of the year activities or think ahead to the new school year!

Be sure to check out my SHARK! and Wacky Watermelon Fun units!  They are a great way to end the school year.  If you are looking for a week of special memory making with your kiddos check out my End of the Year Festivities! 

My Summer Writing Journal has been a BIG hit in  and now is a great time to snatch up this 42 page download of fun!

Remember to click away below to find more great sale items from my Blog Buddies!

Help...SHARK!

Friends~I really don't need help but I wanted to get you attention:)  I am super excited that I just finished my Shark Unit and I can't wait to share it with my kiddos.  I love sharing this fun learning experience with my class right before they head off on their summer beach vacations.  They are always totally memorized by the world of sharks.

Check out some of the fun activities Room 331 will be taking part in!  Below you will see our Mermaid Purses...which are really shark egg sacks.  I was super excited this past summer when I found some egg sacks on the beach and I am planning to put them at a center for my students to observe.  Ours is going to look pretty close to the real thing right?  Click my Mermaid Purse craft image below to download a FREE template! 

Another favorite is Shark Teeth Measuring!  I have been collecting shark teeth forever and I buy little cases of them each time we head to the beach.  I set each little case on a tray with diagrams of different shark teeth and have my students measure them and guess which shark they might belong to.  Don't forget the little magnifying glasses too!

You may also want to ask for a donation of BUGLES.  They make the very best Shark Tooth Snack!

I just added my 36 page SHARK Unit to my TPT store and it is filled with sheets to supplement the activities above and many more!  You can check it out by clicking the image below.

This file is a 36 page download of a integrated study of sharks through reading, writing and science. Included you will find the following activities:
KWL
Anticipation Guide for Gail Gibbons Sharks!
Shark Bubble Map
12 vocabulary word cards
4 sheets of Center ideas
Making words sheet
Art Center 3 templates for a Sandy Shark
Mermaid purse template and description 3 pages
Labeling a Shark Diagram
Letter to an Oceanographer
Shark VS Ray Venn Diagram
Shark Acrostic Poem
Shark Teeth measurement center
12 page All About Sharks mini book
2 Page shark report
Shark Signals 2 page hands on activity
Shark word search
Shark Measuring with students
Shark vs Fish T Chart and pieces.
Shark Jigsaw
1 Shark Journal Prompt

There is NO Place like Room 331!

Friends~My kiddos are in for a treat this week!  We are about half way through The Wizard of OZ by Frank Baum and we are going to climb into some super fun centers this week!

We have been reading it for about a week.  I copied my Character Webs for my students to have during our reading so that they could record their thoughts about each character.  They love having them on their clip boards and it makes it super easy to discuss the chapter after.  They are included in my Return to Oz unit.  You can preview some of the unit by clicking the image below!

On Friday in Social Studies we talked about Wants and Needs so I though it was the perfect time for my kiddos to think about The Emerald City.  Dorothy and the Gang were just getting started on their journey and we learned that The Great Oz would not grand just any wish.  It must be a wish of true importance so we decided it must be a wish of NEED.  So, I create a giant Emerald City and my kiddos made a T-chart of their wants and needs. 

I am so excited for our Exploration Station (Center Time) because my friends will be making Emerald Glasses to wear into the Emerald City!  Download a FREE copy of my center response sheet below!  I had one of my kiddos try them out on Friday just for a size check.  I have lots of green glitter glue for them to line the rimes with!

They will also have the opportunity to visit The Science Center and learn about the human brain and heart.  I grabbed a copy of The Book of Blood from Reading A to Z!  I am going to have them buddy read and then add a piece to a graph telling which body part they think is most important.  I have to grab a couple books about the brain on Monday from our school library! 

Spelling City has a great list of The Body science vocabulary that I am going to have my students visit in our computer center.  I am hoping they will make the connection between what they learn in The Science Center and how the vocabulary words are related!

The vocabulary flash cards are a perfect way to introduce the words, they can then play a game like Word O Rama to practice.  There is even a vocabulary quiz for them to take!

I have more OZ fun up my sleeve so stay tuned to find out how the story unfolds in Room 331!

Wacky Watermelon Time!

Friends~Down South it is getting HOT!  Nothing reminds me of summer like a hunk of watermelon:)  In class next week,  we will be working with watermelons for reading, writing, and math.  Check out some of the fun centers we will be using in room 331!

First,  in my Science Center my students will examine a slice of watermelon and locate the parts. Did you know all parts of the watermelon are eatable?  I have a poster mounted for them to refer to.  

Of course they get to eat their sweet snack too!  

Next, they will practice their dialogue with watermelon seed quotation marks! 

I know that a favorite will be our Working With Words center!  I am adding in my watermelon play dough for my students to practice their sight words!

I am pretty sure our room will smell super yummy!

Click the image above to download the recipe on my Facebook Page! 

You can check out more of my Watermelon Unit by clicking the image below.  

This unit is a 36 page download filled with fun watermelon activities to use at home or in the classroom.   Included you will find:
A KWL sheet
A Watermelon Fact sheet
A 12 page mini book with facts about watermelons for your students to make and read.
A watermelon parts diagram
A Brace Map for watermelon parts
Before, Durning, and After reading activities for The Enormous Watermelon
Nursery Rhyme retelling cards
Watermelon song
A watermelon play dough recipe and 24 making words cards plus a blank sheet to use with your own words
Seed Quotation Marks and a Making words sheets
A 4 page mini book How to Grow a Water Melon
Estimating sheet to go along with the book One Watermelon Seed plus a Spitting Seeds Measurement Page
A Journal Prompt and Vegetable Compare Venn Diagram
An acrostic poem
4 Page Small Moment writing packet!

Introducing...Clipart Club 4 Teachers Give Away!

Friends~I am always looking for fun clip art to use in my classroom for new activities & when creating my Smart Notebook files.  A week or so ago I meet a new friend.  Her name is Aisne and she is with Clipart Club 4 Teachers.  She is a newbie in the blog world and she asked if I would be willing to share some of her work with my followers.

Of course I said YES!  The best part is she is giving away a SUMMER clip art pack to The Schroeder Page followers:)  That's You!  You also can be entered in a give away for a 1 year FREE membership to her clip art club where you will have access to her clip art for free all year long:)

Click here to read about her terms of use.  Good news-her work can be made into paid or free products:)

She also takes requests for products so she is going to be a great resource for those hard to find images.

Here is your FREE sample of Aisne's work!  I told her we all have summer on the brain!  Click the image to download:)

Now for the Give Away!  In order to be entered in the drawing you will need to complete the following steps!

You must be a follower of my blog:)

Please head over and follow Clipart Club 4 Teachers!   

Follow Aisne on her Facebook Page!

Follow my Teachers Notebook Store!

Follow my Facebook Page! 

Last, leave 1 comment telling me what clip art you would love to see created by Aisne.  

That is IT!  I will choose a winner on Monday, May 21st from the comments posted.  

Thanks so much & GOOD LUCK!