Saturday Apps #13

Apps make the world go round....well not quite, but they do make our mobile devices go.  I stumble upon apps, I find apps on Pinterest and Facebook and seek out apps on AppsGoneFree. 

Today I'd like to feature 

This app is FREE from iTunes.  I love music and stream Pandora in my classroom both when students are present (especially during Writing...the George Winston station is fantastic) and when they're not (during my preps and after school when I need to chill out (turn out the lights and put on Relaxation Radio).  Pandora is great. . .but there are commercials and it's especially annoying during quiet work time when a loud one comes on.  

But now I will use this app!  I love this app for 3 reasons:  1) You can turn the volume each individual melody/sound up or down, 2) There are no commercials and 3) It's FREE!   

I will also put this on when falling asleep or when trying to get rid of a headache.

Enjoy!

Five For Friday

It's been a very long time but I'm so excited to link up again with 

This was our first week back from a 5-week vacation in Minnesota (yearly pilgrimage to my home state) and it was good to be home.  I'm so fortunate to have my summers off so I can be a mom and do lots of fun projects that just keep piling up in my brain.  Here are my top 5 things I was most excited about and thankful for:

Succulents

A plant whose leaves store water.

This one looks like a sea anemone. 

These were too cute to pass up and will be cute in my classroom!

This beauty of a bookcase.

It is being held up by a filing cabinet but I'm still trying to figure out something better.

I label my fiction bins by first letter of the title and these are wooden placards I made.

I've admired a similar one at a local book store (except it wasn't painted this cute) and finally made my own!

Spray Paint

I'm a lazy painter so this is my best friend because it's paint & primer together and it sticks to anything!

Crumby

$10 at Office Depot

I love to use a DustBuster and have one in my classroom.  I've even been known to use them on my own messy children (to clean and tickle).  But this tiny terrific tool makes me so happy!  I'm changing the lyrics of the Bobby McFerrin song to "Don't Worry Be Tidy".

Pokémon Go

 Hi, my name is Jaime and I'm addicted to Pokémon Go.  But there's a good reason: I was into GeoCaching before this came out and both have the commonality of being treasure hunting games.  Plus, I'm currently working on a series of Pokemon Partner Plays so I've been doing research on this whole Pokémon craze and it's insanely detailed!

Have a FUNtastic weekend!

An awesome find at Goodwill!

First I willingly and excitedly spent my money at Lakeshore Learning for my classroom.

Then I started willingly and excitedly spending my money at Target and Dollar Stores for my classroom.

Now I'm willingly and excitedly searching for treasures and spend little money at local Goodwill and thrift stores!

The other day I found a new building treasure that I've never seen before and my kids have been happily testing out.

The box is old and the copyright is 2006 but upon Googling it, I'm happy to say they are still for sale and look like this:

You can order them online from Amazon, Walmart and Fat Brain Toys (my new favorite online spot for classroom building things, toys, etc.) for anywhere from $12 to $30.

This video is great and shows some more (math) ideas for how to incorporate it into your classroom.

Readers' Theater Article

Sitting here on a beautifully sunny day, watching my little guy play, drinking a Mint Condition and surfing Pinterest.  Life is good!

Ain't that the truth!!

I came across a good article on Pinterest about Readers' Theater.  It's not a how-to but rather a just-do-it article about the hesitations and doubts one might have trying to incorporate RT into an already busy schedule.  The author is Sarah Wiggins and her blog is called More Than a Worksheet.

What's the Difference?

Here's a little quiz.  Write down or remember your answers and then scroll down to see how you did.

Are these pairs of animals the same?

                   A)  cougar & puma

               B)  turtle & tortoise

               C)  crow & raven

               D)  jackrabbit & hare

               E)  crocodile & alligator

               F)  firefly & lightning bug

               G) butterfly & moth

               A)  yes

               B)  no

               C)  no

               D)  yes

               E)  no

               F)  yes

               G) no

How did you do?  If you're wondering why B, C, E and G are NOT the same then I've got the thing for you. . . actually it's for your students.

Click to get

Click to get

I remember wondering, about a year ago, "Are ravens and crows the same thing?", as I watched a raven (revered by certain Native Alaskan groups) caw at me from a light post at my school one morning.  Right then and there I got the idea for yet another Readers' Theater pack and my brain started racing to think of more animals that were similar but not the same.

Each play comes with 2 different comprehension checks: a Venn diagram fact sort and a 6 question opened ended response sheet.

I came up with so many animal pairs that I'm going to start working on pack #2, followed by pack #3!  

Next week I'll be at a cabin in the woods, on a lake, in the middle of no where and I'm excited to churn out some more writing!

DIY Classroom Decoration

I saw the coolest DIY decoration in a cute little boutique yesterday and my first thought was, "I have to have this in my classroom!"

It's a curtain rod attached to the wall and from it hang random strips of ripped fabric that are tied together.  The left half shows how it can be long and the right half shows how it can be short.   This is a no-sew project and you can either do the random fabric colors and patterns or do a specific color.

I already have a moveable, stage-like curtain in front of my main whiteboard, so I think this will fit right in.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

The walls of my classroom library are bare (hate to admit that) except for a medium-sized, framed, magnetic black board on which I post reading posters.  So this was my first thought when I saw this DIY.  My library is in a corner, so I'm thinking of doing 2 curtain rods and maybe putting the blackboard on an easel right in the corner.  

Setting up my classroom each year is my FAVORITE thing because I love to decorate and use my space wisely and efficiently!

My son and I were strolling around downtown Bemidji, Minnesota (where I am for the week as my daughter goes to Spanish camp), just going in and out of stores and I'm so glad I had my camera!  Now I want to do some more strolling and looking tomorrow :-)

Build It

Over the past few years, as both a teacher and person, I've developed a love of building things!  It's such a great creative outlet for all the ideas swirling around in my head.


When I dove into doing small math groups 2 years ago, I started looking for and collecting  building-type manipulatives that my students could use for an independent building group.  Now I love to stumble upon new ones when I'm out and about and on vacation. I found an awesome toystore recently in Hopkins, Minnesota and ended up buying 2 new building manipulatives.  And I've finished up a building activity card set that comes with a list (pictures and links) of all 18 different manipulatives that I've found!

Most of my student's favorite thing about our classroom is our small math groups and the B for Building group.  I also leave an old iPod out so kids can take pictures of their creations.  They can have a friend take it, do a selfie, or put their name tag next to it so I can tell who made it.  And then on my website,  I post the pictures so parents and relatives can see (plus it's great motivation for kiddos).

If you know of a building material that is NOT on my list (that is suitable for this activity) please let me know and I'll add it and reward you for sharing :-)