Throw Back Thursday Bucket Fillers

I'm joining First Grade Parade's Linky and revisiting my very first blog post for Throwback Thursday.

It's my all time most viewed post originally posted back on April 19th, 2011

Hope you find some new ideas for using Bucket Filling in your classroom.

Originally posted 4-19-11

For the past several years I've used the popular Bucket Filler books by Carol McCloud in my classroom.

If you've not taken a peek at this series it is a MUST do.  At the start of every school year I begin the bucket filler program. I have this bulletin board display of personalized buckets for classmates to add positive bucket filler thoughts.

Here's my Bucket Filler Bulletin Board. I personalized each bucket with student's names and taped them to party favor treat boxes.  

I've also created seasonal themed bucket filler notes. Grab them here:

Pick of the Patch notes

Thankful notes

Holiday cheer notes

New Year's notes
Valentine notes
St. Patrick's notes
Eggstra Special notes
Friendship Growing notes

 

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

 

From the Mouths of Teachers

Tammy from Forever in First has a fun linky I'm joining titled, My Teacher Always Says

Here are some of my daily teacherisms

This comment works for all kinds of refocusing or behavior issues

I do not go a day in my class without saying this a few times.

Another go to quote. This is great for redirecting and especially effective when partnered with complete SILENCE from me after I say it.

You can grab the top 2 quotes above for display in your class if you choose to

What are some of your favorite sayings?

Join the party

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

Common Core Focus Wall

I'm beginning to see a pattern to my projects this summer...All things Common Core.

Last week I shared my file organization. This week I'm showing you my standard focus wall.

My grade level is still easing into the full standards, but this next year I'm going to start displaying the learning targets for Common Core.

I bought One Extra Degree's Focus Wall sets  and laminated them. I also laminated black backing paper to attach to my white boards. Then the nifty part to this project is using Stikki Clips. These little clips stick easily to anything and can be repositioned and reused. But the best part is that I can easily pull off one standard to display another one for day to day lessons. Here's part of my Focus Wall display. This is my house sliding glass door, but you get the idea of how it will look on my whiteboard once I get back into my classroom.

Here are the Stikki Clips I used to hold the standard cards.

Another thing made, but tons more on my To Do List.

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

Favorite Read Alouds in the Classroom

Here are my top 5 read alouds for the classroom. I'll share a snippet about each one in the order that I read them to my class this year.

First up is Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry

What a character Gooney Bird Greene is. She's quirky and fun and a master storyteller.

This book lends itself wonderfully to introducing the elements of a good story writing and telling.

This author has several other Gooney books that a well worth the read too.

You can check my original blog post for this book, which includes a video find and my Gooney Unit {HERE}

Next, is Lulu and the Brontosaurs by Judith Viorst.

Lulu is a spoiled brat who demands that she wants a dinosaur for a pet.

This is a quick read, but one my class adored.

I would hear them chanting in line like Lulu, 

" I"m gonna,  I'm gonna, I'm gonna gonna get a bronta, bronta, brontosaurus for a pet."

Then, we read James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

A classic read about a lonely boy named James raised by his mean aunts.

He escapes his miserable life inside a magical peach with a crew of animated insects.

On to Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, a great tale of friendship between a little girl, a runt pig she raises and a spider.

We watched the video afterwards to compare the book to the movie.

My all time favorite I always end the year with is Dodger and Me by Jordan Sonnenblick

 The main character, Willie Ryan forms a friendship with an invisible, blue chimp in surfer shorts and his life literally changes. Cute, cute read. I originally blogged about this book {HERE}.

What are your favorite read alouds?

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

Come Join the group!

Common Core Organization

Common Core organization is on the top of my To Do List. So I typed 3rd grade standards up, stuck them on file folders labels and put them in a transportable file crate.

I like the ability to grab and go anywhere with the crate, as I do a lot of my planning at home.
This way everything is right at my fingertips.

I've also been busy making a fun new product line titled "To the Point".
I've created them for Synonyms, Word Families, Guide Words, Analogies, Prefixes & Suffixes, and Categories.

You can peek at them {HERE}

What have you made for your classroom lately?

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store