Bright Concepts 4 Teachers: Lesson Plans and Teaching Strategies

Weekend Warriors: Back to School Cool Birthday Board

Most of us are in full Back to School swing or will be starting with kiddos after this long holiday weekend! My Weekend Warrior buddies and I decided we would share some of our Back to School ideas with you to help inspire and get this school year started in the right direction.

One of my favorite things to set up once the kids come into the room, is our classroom birthday board. There are many variations if this idea all over the internet, but I have made it work for my small classroom bulletin board space.

I use the door that connects my classroom to my team partner's room to display the kids pictures. I have very little bulletin board space and this space works perfectly. During the first week of school, I group the kids by their birthday month and take pictures of them. Then, I print and laminate them and display them all year long. My classroom color scheme is turquoise and black. So I made this set to match it. It is part of my Classroom Decor set. I also have a separate colorful Birthday Bulletin Board display set that would work for most classrooms.

To make each student feel special on their birthday, I give each student their personalized birthday bloom!

I bought a flower pot and filled it with plastic rocks I had in my classroom. Each year I change what the "stem" will be. This year I purchased mechanical pencils. In previous years, I have used crazy straws (a big hit, too). I also wanted to personalized the flowers for my kids and make them easier to cut out. If you would like to create your own birthday blooms, you can grab the FREE template by clicking the picture below.

Now, I hope you have a few new ideas to help celebrate birthdays in your classroom this year. Make sure to head on over to check out all the other great Back to School ideas from my amazing blogging buddies.

InLinkz.com

Setting Up Interactive Notebooks

I have received several emails about HOW to set up my interactive notebooks. This is a very personal decision, but I want to share how I do it with my kiddos. When you purchase one of my interactive notebooks, there are directions of how to personalize and set up the notebooks to work for you, as well as pictures of what it can look like as a finish product.

I use 70 page wide ruled spiral notebooks for my journals. The pages fit perfectly in them. Many teachers prefer composition books. Either one works. If you choose to use composition books, you will need to print the pages at a reduced rate before you make a class set to fit into the books. Use what works best for you and your students.

Each of my interactive notebooks also comes with strand tabs and strand covers for each of the areas the notebook covers. I like to copy the strand tabs on different colored Astrobright paper. This helps the students easily identify the strand we are working on.

Since I am a ~~control freak~~ organized person, I set up my student notebooks with the strand tabs ahead of time. This is actually a very hard thing for first through third graders to do and leaves A LOT of room for error. I tried having my own fifth grade son help me, and it was a frustrating task for him. So, I recruited my mom to help me instead. I prefer to use the front and back of the notebook pages and add several extra pages to each section for any mistakes that my occur when they are used by the students. I count the number of activities in each strand and then add about 5 extra pages.

Then, I have the STUDENTS color and glue the strand cover on top of the tab for reinforcement. Other people have laminated the tabs and stapled them into the notebooks instead of gluing them. Both work beautifully.

Finally, I glue the notebook cover (included) to the front of the notebook. I use clear packing tape to reinforce the top and bottom of the cover too. Some people like to laminate the covers and then tape them, as well.

Storage Suggestions:

I have my students store their notebooks in their own desk. This does not work for everyone. I have not found it to be a problem so far. The tabs get bent through the year, but that will happen anyway, so it does not bother me that much. I have also used table bins or baskets to store them in. Experiment and see what works for your class.

Loose Pieces:

As we all know, students work at different paces. This can be frustrating and challenging to manage when some students have small pieces cut out, but not glued yet. I have tried to design many of my notebook pages to NOT have many little pieces for this very reason. However, sometimes it is unavoidable. In previous years, I had the kids put the pieces on top of the page they were working on before they closed their notebook. This was not full proof by any means. This year, I am going to glue a small manila envelope to the inside of the back cover of the notebook. Erin Cobb, from Lovin' Lit, shared this idea on her blog. I think it is simply brilliant and will solve my problem easily.

I hope these tips and tricks help you get your interactive notebooks set up with ease. Enjoy!

Meet The Teacher Blogger {linky party}

I am excited to be linky up with Stephanie from Falling into First for her Meet the Teacher Blogger linky party.

Here's a little bit about me:

I married my college sweetheart. We just celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We have two amazing boys together. I will be starting my 16th year of teaching in Southern California. I have taught first, second and fourth grade. My heart is in second! I love my teaching partner and sweet little K-12 span school. I wouldn't change a thing.

Q&A Session:

Q: These are a few of my favorite things...
watching my boys play baseball and rooting for the Dodgers & Cubs, massages, manicures and pedicures and of course shopping at Target!

Q: If you weren't a teacher, what would you want to be?
Child advocate lawyer

Q: Three little words that describe you.
truthful, sarcastic, dedicated

Q: Finish this sentence, "_______________, said no teacher EVER!!"
I really love grading essays on the weekend, said no teacher EVER!

Q: It's your birthday and you can invite anyone (dead or alive) to the party. Who are you inviting?
My husband and kids!

Q: If someone wrote a book about your life, what would be the title?
Hawaiian Family Fun

Q: You get to pick one superpower. What is it?
To blink and make things appear or disappear!

Q: What is your favorite quote or saying?
Never let the fear of striking out get in your way! -Babe Ruth

Q: If you HAD to sing one song on American Idol, what would it be?
I sing but only in the car when I am by myself. I can't carry a tune to save my life

Q: Are you a morning person or a night owl?
MORNING PERSON! I can't sleep in even if I try. Once I'm awake, that's it! And I fall asleep on the couch every night watching TV. I never get to finish a program. Thank goodness for my DVR.

Q: What is your favorite resource that you've created in your TPT shop?

My MATH and LANGUAGE Interactive Notebooks
I love having all the evidence of learning in one place, aligned to the Common Core State Standards!

AND

My ELA and MATH Task Cards
These were a game changer in my classroom. My kids love reviewing their skills now!

Q: Share something we might not know about you!
I have always wanted to go sky diving. Then I got married and had children. I had to be responsible. So, I went indoor sky diving instead! LOVED IT! No need to jump out of a plane now.

Tag you're it! Now it's your turn to head on over to Stephanie's blog, grab the buttons and questions and share a little about yourself too!

B2S Sale and "O-FISH-ALLY" Labels FREEBIE!

In case you haven't heard, tomorrow is the BIG day! The TpT Back To School sale will start at midnight on Monday, August 4th! It's time to stock up on all those incredible resources you have been eyeing, drooling over, and wish listing for the last few months. My entire store will be 20% off. Plus if you enter the code BTS14 at checkout, you will get an additional 10% off your purchase!

Now is the time to grab my math and language interactive notebooks at an incredible discount.

Common Core Checklists and Vocabulary Resources

Back To School Essentials

FREEBIE ALERT!
I made these treats for my kiddos on the first day of school. I just filled baggies with goldfish crackers and attached these cute little labels.

I have made the labels for every grade level K-5! If you would like to grab a copy, head on over to my Facebook page. Click on the Freebies for Fans tab on the left side of the page. If you are not a fan yet, like my page and then click on the tab to download a copy.

Also, don't forget to enter the Weekend Warriors Back To School Bash Giveaway! You could win a $50 Amazon gift card, tons of free B2S resources and more! Click here to take you to the rafflecopters to enter!

Good luck to everyone! Cheers to a great school year!

Back To School Bash GIVEAWAYS!

Back To School time is bitter sweet! On one hand, summer is coming to an end and the lazy summer days are winding down. On the other hand, we all are getting a brand new batch of little darlings to mold and we get to decorate our classrooms! I love it all, but I will be missing my long summer days!

Some of my blogging friends and I want to help you focus on the SUPER sweet side of Back To School! We are hosting some FABULOUS giveaways for the next few days to get you revved up for the new school year!!! Introducing....

I have chosen to feature one of my favorite beginning of the year resources, Back To School Basics: Essential Forms for the School Year.

I have been using many of these forms for years, but now they are are bundled together in one place and "cutsified!" (not sure if that is even a word, but it is now). There are weekly and monthly classroom newsletter templates, transportation forms, class lists, important student information form, a sample opening letter and much more!
The best thing about this resource is that it is EDITABLE using PowerPoint! You can make the templates meet your needs! How wonderful is that?
I also have included color and black and white templates to help make everything printer-friendly. We all know how much ink we go through getting ready for school! If you would like to own this fabulous resource, you are in luck! I am giving away one copy to a lucky follower. Just use the rafflecopter below to enter. I will choose a winner on Tuesday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To sweeten this deal even more, my blogging buddies and I have come together to offer $5 to each of our TpT Stores PLUS a $50 Amazon gift card to help you get your room ready with all the supplies you need! This giveaway is fast! You only have until August 4th to enter. Use the rafflecopter below to enter! Make sure to hop on over to check out all the other giveaways and get those classroom resources stocked up! Good luck!