Target Finds!

As I walked past the "School Supplies" section at Target, I realized this is the first year I won't have to stalk up on crayons, notebooks, glue sticks, pencils, and dollar bin plastic organizational containers...Saving money should make me happy, right? 


Well, apparently the "Dorm Life" section is my new favorite location. I found some {exciting} finds I can't wait to use even though I'm not heading back to college. Although my camera-taking abilities are lacking, hopefully you'll see why I'm so excited.


I found some lights that not only can be plugged into a USB port, but they have letters that can be changed throughout the year. I made mine so that it says, "WE LOVE READING". 

I'm always on the look-out for new tools to help teach comprehension. I'm thinking this dry-erase bubble will be perfect when I introduce making connections and mental images! What's even more exciting...it lights up! Kids will love it.

My schools' Core Values (The Five C's) are going to be prominent fixtures in my classroom. I found these super-cheap black picture frames and I'm quite please with how they turned out!

That's all for now...I'd love to hear any back to school finds you've located! :)

Bead Slides and CVC Word Cards

So I have the stormy weather and a new blog to thank for the arts and crafts mess I've created on my bedroom floor. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a new blog (that I heart) and eyed a phonemic awareness idea I wish I would have thought of myself! Julie over at Make, Take, & Teach has created a "bead slide" to teach phoneme segmentation. Genius. She even has a video demonstration and a word list...you should probably head over and check it out. 

I found this inexpensive beads and ribbon at Jo Ann's & will be able to have a class set of bead slides! 

A teaching buddy of mine has been working with a kid who has been reversing the first and last letters in words and I got an idea...Hopefully it will also be a tool I can use with my kindergarten students this coming school year and hopefully you will find it useful too!


Using the green, yellow, and red traffic light idea, we've created color-coded CVC words to help early literacy learners decode words using the appropriate left-to-right concepts of print. There are corresponding black-and-white copies that can be printed on the back of the colored words to help them generalize their improved decoding skills to fluent reading without the controlled colored supports.

Free Download at TpT!

Leave us some love if you download the Free "Traffic Light CVC Word" Template at TpT!

READ-O...Updated Version!

Do you remember this READ-O????

Steve and I've had such a huge response...and we heart you so much, we've made a READ-O for the school year! 

READO-O can be used in a variety of ways to keep your students practicing important skills at home during each month of the school year. READ-O is especially useful for helping parents practice important literacy skills with children and offers a fun effective way to keep kids engaged in academic activities...especially during winter, spring, and summer breaks! We've scaffolded the ELA Common Core month by month in a black and white template, easy for printing for each of your students!

• August/September: Reading Foundation & Reading Literature
• October: Reading Foundation, Reading Literature, & Language
• November: Reading Foundation, Reading Literature, & Language
• December: Reading Foundation, Language, & Speaking and Listening
• January: Reading Foundation, Reading Informational Text, & Language
• February: Reading Foundation, Language, & Writing
• March: Reading Informational Text, Language, & Writing
• April: Reading Literature, Language, & Writing
• May/June: Reading Literature, Language, & Writing

Our TpT Store

Head on over to our TpT Store to download a free sample and purchase our year long READ-O! Please leave us some feedback and let us know what you think! 

Classroom 117

About a year ago I wrote a post about my new classroom. I was so super-pumped about my new lime-green room! I thought for sure this would be the room I'd settle in for a while, after all, I spent a couple pay checks purchasing furniture to fit my new space...


Well, this year I will be moving into a new room...yet again! I'm very excited to be moving into a new reading intervention position, but I find myself struggling to come up with my room design. Secretly, I heart coming up with new room designs. Instead of creating the typical meeting area, Daily Five and math learning stations, and group meeting space...I will be creating four areas for reading intervention. (I'll have 2-3 other teachers and support staff pulling groups at the same time). I feel like a first-year teacher thinking about the layout of my new space!


Today I came across The Make Room, a site (on Pinterest, of course) which allows you to design your own space. All you have to do is add in the dimensions. It's practically the most genius site of all time. Translation: I've spent 75% of my day using it! I don't have my room finished yet, but I'll throw some pics of my new space at you. I'll make updates as I progress...but I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for me!

There's all my stuff! Yikes.

Wishing the blank wall was storage cabinets!

The only storage cabinet...and yes, it's already loaded with my stuff!

More stuff...

...and more of my stuff. 

I've always wanted a bedroom with vaulted ceilings, but I'll settle for a classroom! 

The purple wall folds up and leads to the school's stage...Did I mention it's also magnetic? (Just might be my favorite part of this room!)

More to come!