The Pied Piper

My class had a blast reading the text version of "The Pied Piper!" Then, we watched two different media clips, one from a movie and one from a cartoon about "The Pied Piper." We worked on comparing and contrasting the parts where he led the rats out of the town and then the children out of the town. Students completed Venn Diagrams about both clips from the media.

We also had a class discussion about questions we had while reading this story. Finally, students traced one of their feet to create the rats for our mural. My students really enjoyed our discussions and had several deep thinking questions afterwards.

Our Visit With "Little Bear"

With ELA Unit 1 of the Common Core Standards, our class works on projects centered around a one-week visit with "Little Bear." We read the stories, "Little Bear's Visit" and "A Kiss For Little Bear," by Else Holmelund Minarik. Here are some pictures of our hallway display that go along with activities in my TPT "Little Bear" pack.

Learning Target and Story Title Posters

Asking deep-thinking questions about the story: Before Reading, During Reading, and After Reading (I always add student initials to show ownership over a question)

Student work samples of completed Exit Slips

As students completed activities, they could assist in completing this "Little Bear" class project. Moreover, students drew/wrote connections they had with the story on little post-it notes, which were stuck around this project poster. Both of these stories were read aloud, but students followed along in their own book copies of "A Kiss For Little Bear." What fun!

January 2014 Giveaway Reveal!

Here is the next Giveaway! An Organizing Utility Tote with lots of pockets and side mesh pockets, perfect for work or travels in the car! I actually use my Organizing Utility Tote as my "Teacher Tote," as it is great for carrying files, papers to be graded, my water bottle, etc. The lil pockets on the front and back hold rubber bands, markers, etc.

All you have to do to win is be a member of my blog. I will draw out a lucky winner on January 1, 2014! If I get to 100 followers before January 1, 2014, I will add a second tote, with matching print to this item Giveaway! How does that sound? :) Good luck to all of my followers! ~Tava

And the September Teaching Tiny Treasure Giveaway Goes To...

And the September Giveaway winner is Gianna! Congrats on your new thermal tote! Please check your email so that I can get this lunch tote to you! Thanks to all of you who are following my blog and for your sweet comments. Check out the next Giveaway! I think you will like it! ~Tava

September Giveaway

The winner of the September Giveaway will be drawn and announced between 7:00-9:00 tonight! Plus, stay tuned for the next Giveaway reveal! Hope ya'll are having a great weekend!

Superhero Paper Bag Book

I decided to add my love of scrapbooking into this product. This little Paper Bag Book is perfect for a Superhero-themed classroom or unit of study! It can be used to write short stories, as an ongoing scrapbook throughout the school year, etc. Lil tags and ribbon add cute texture and embellishments to this lil book. Check out the preview at my TPT store! If you have any cute ideas/ themes for a Paper Bag Book, please let me know! If I create your suggested Paper Bag Book, I'll email it to you for free! ~Tava

Here is an example of the "Superhero Girl Book" (Superhero Boy is also included in the pack)

School's in Session with a TPT SALE!

What a great first three days back to school! Teachers Pay Teachers is hosting a BACK-TO-SCHOOL SALE from August 18-19th! All of my products are on sale at 20% off! Great savings! Just check the TPT site for the code to use at checkout! I guess I'd better rest up this weekend-first full week next week! Paperwork, schedules, and lesson plans, Oh My!

My dog is happy when I am home from school-going back is an adjustment for him as well!

Open House 2013!

Our Open House 2013 was a success! How about some pictures from the big night! I always greet my new first graders and their families at the classroom door, but boy does the time fly by! It is such a fast-paced evening with parents and students walking in, touring the classroom, filling out paperwork, etc.! I gave each student a special bottle of "ROBOT LIQUID BOOST"-These turned out so cute and were so easy to make! Students also were able to decorate front covers of their Take-Home folders.

For our Hallway Display, I placed 5 mini posters with QR codes to scan to "Meet The Teacher." Each parent was given an agenda for the evening with this display station on their list.

"Repair For A Great Year....What will be your favorite part?" This display is all ready for some student work to be displayed (I used decorative ribbon to wrap across each student background display page, then used hot glue to attach a clothespin and star).

Also in the hall is this cute, "First Grade Photo Spot" display. Each teacher created a special photo square decorated with the theme of the classroom-Here's mine, robots and space! Students had a blast getting their pictures taken here!

Hope you all have wonderful Open Houses!

Ready to Launch 2013-2014 School Year!

Here we go! Another start to a new school year, my seventeenth year to be exact! My, how the time flies! Here are some pictures of my "Space/ Robot" themed classroom. Turquoise and Lime Green are my main classroom colors-perfect for space!

Front Bulletin Board:

"Robot Wall of Fame"

"Out On Patrol"-Students write classroom number on this dry/ erase poster when going out of the room.

Back Bulletin Board (Track Center Rotations, "Space Stations" and "Systems Check" Student Self-Assessment Board) I found this giant robot guy at the dollar store-love it!

Computer Area, "Mission Control"

Plenty of space to read!

Lost and Found:

"Astronaut of the Week" special seat

Robot Rewards (Lil robot reward paper slips inside for students that demonstrate "To Infinity and Beyond" behavior-My husband decked out this little trash can for me, robot style! How cute!)

Back to the front of the room!

Open House pics will be posted soon! Happy Back-To-School to all! :)

Out with the old, in with the new! Home Office Redo!

This past week, my husband and I decided to redo our Den or Home Office. We had cherry wood furniture which didn't match any other decor in our house. Here is a picture of our Home Office when we first moved into our house (It was December 2008 at Christmas time!)

Over the years, we added a little to this room, but this is what it looks like after the redo!

Big difference, right? Check out this cute find at Hobby Lobby-metal wire bird frame. I added the clothespins to put important reminders (dental, invitations, etc.). The matching bird nest is perfect for our stamps. The two lamps are from Ikea-matching this already existing piece of furniture we had bought from Home Goods. LOVE!

Here is our new organizational unit for mail, bills, and calendar (still have to fill it in, of course!). No more messy mail on the kitchen table!

How about these IKEA cubes! I had always wanted these, just didn't know which room to incorporate them into our house!

This little bird's nest fits post-it notes easily!

Finally, I have seen a lot of crafts to help remember important dates, mainly on Pinterest. I made this little wall display to keep track of our upcoming birthdays and anniversaries! If you would like to see how I made this cute lil display, head on over to my Tiny Treasures By T Blog for step-by-step pictures.

Well, one more room complete! So glad we decided to tackle this project before school starts back up!

I am sure that I will be spending a lot more time now in our Home Office! Yes, probably working on school stuff!