Creepy Carrots

It's that time of year and FALL is my favorite.  I love the colors, the smells, the weather and most of all the books!!

My favorite is CREEPY CARROTS by Aaron Reynolds.

I love the illustrations and the cute story.

I read it to my second grade class and we talked about MOOD.  We looked at the pictures and talked about how the illustrator uses black and shadows to set the mood.

Before reading the story I showed students the anchor chart I made and told them what mood was.  Then I asked them the mood of this carrot.  

As we read, we stopped at points and talked about how the illustrations of black and shadows set the creepy scary mood.

Then we talked about different moods.

I created this freebie for students to create their own creepy character.  I asked them to choose any mood.  Some of the students really went off and turned out great!

Needs versus Wants with Kindergarten

I try each year to incorporate some part of the classroom curriculum into my mini lessons.  Today I worked with Kindergarten on Needs vs Wants.

I used the Charlie and Lola book, "I really, really need actual ice skates".  I read the book and then talked to students about what the difference in needs vs wants was.

You can find ALOT of free smartboard lessons on smart exchange as well as TpT freebies.
Kids enjoyed the video as well on Youtube.  Love me some YouTube in the classroom.

So cute!

What does The Parts of a Library Patron look like?

I have seen these cute and adorable little posters on TpT and Pinterest and love them.  So I wanted to make one for my library.
We are really pushing to wear our ARMOR in our school because we are Knights so I wanted to incorporate that as well.  So here it is....

Armor in the Library YAY!
How cute is that if I say so myself ;)

And of course I couldn't leave my library folks out so here you go as well
Click HERE to download yours!!!!!!!

Hope you ENJOY the FREEBIE!!!!

Back to School

I know, Back to School....just now posting after three weeks of school.  If you are a media specialist than you know those first weeks are full of tech trouble shooting, connecting equipment for teachers, getting your space ready for the kiddos and so much more!!

Im soooo excited that we are starting our year off with a new principal that is excited about our school and making this a great place to be.

To start a new year I want to change things up a bit and provide more opportunities for the kiddos to participate.

Sooooo where else to go but PINTEREST :)

Got these ideas off pinterest and LOVE it.

The first one is "You should REALLY read this" bulletin.  I laminated the paper and put sticky notes in a bucket and attached it to the wall.  Whenever students or STAFF want to suggest a book, they get a sticky, write the name and put it under their grade level.  

love reading what they suggest!

I also was looking for ways to show how the media center impacts students and their learning.

So another sticky area.  This one is What did YOU learn today.  I told students it can be from a book they checked out or from something I taught.

This is a great idea to show others what is going on in the media center and what students are learning.  Sometimes I require students to fill a note out before leaving and sometimes I make it optional.

Hope these are helpful to you and your library!! Would love to here your wonderful ideas as well because you know we all are doing WONDERFUL things!!

Library Interactive Notebook

So Ive seen all the wonderful things Interactive Notebooks are doing in the classroom.  Just Google the word or search it on Pinterest and the results are overwhelming.
Ive always wanted the students in my media center to keep some sort of notebook, journal of some kind where they could document what they have learned, keep a running record of notes or research they were doing and have something they could refer back to throughout the year....
So BINGO, what about an interactive notebook for the library?
Yes Please.
Here it is....

My kids love it, I love it, and it also is another document of what we do in the elementary library!  You can get it here at my TpT store!  and be sure to follow my store so you get updates on additions to this notebook.

Introducing a New Look

I have been working hard to create useful clips for FREE.  I have changed my look and added a logo to make it easier to find me.

Here are a couple of my FREE CLIP ART

Click HERE to get it FREE at my TpT store.

My goal is to be a better blogger so I can share my freebies with more people.  I'm trying, its just sooooo hard.
Grab these free chick and bunny clip art too.

Just click HERE
And one more you are sure to love for your classroom needs is the ANALOG CLOCKS....FREE

pick them up HERE is my TpT store FREE!!!

Read Across America

I am getting excited about Read Across America this year.  We are taking a new approach and instead of focusing on all "Seuss" themed activities, we are using the theme, "Reading gives you Superpowers".  We are reading Ladybug Girl and Bumble Bee Boy  Students will dress as a super hero on Friday to close the celebration.  I will post pics of all the fun.
Here is a letter that we are sending home.

Here is an awesome video where David Pilkey made talking about reading superpowers.

Pictures to come.