Numbers

In my classroom I have tried to come up with some ways to help my students with number sense. One of my favorite things (my kids love it too) is:  can you guess my number?

I only reveal the numbers we have worked on. Each day my teachers helper gets to whisper a number in my ear. Then he/she will call on students to guess what number was chosen. I use little sticky notes to cover up the numbers. When the number is guessed, the helper writes the number on the board. I am never allowed to miss this activity, and my kids are learning. 👏

The picture above is part of my jungle/safari math centers. I will have it in my stores early this week, this is just one of the ideas. Hope you all check it out!

Crate seats!

So, I caved and had to make those adorable crate seats that is blowing up Pinterest!  I made zebra print and it was so easy I am going back for the giraffe print and making 4 more!  

This is. How I did it: 

Figuring out what color crate and what color print you want is the hardest part. I got all the supplies at Walmart except for the wood at Home Depot. I bought hot pink crate and zebra print.  The fabric comes in 2 yards. 2 yards make 4 seats. I bought foam to pad the seat. Then I went to Home Depot and got the wood.  The nice man there cut it for me and showed me how I could get the cheapest deal! (Always love the deals).  I bought one sheet which is enough for 8 seats!  All you need is a staple gun and you are set!

I put fabric on a table, then placed the foam down, and then the wood, pulled taut and stapled all the way around. The edges I wrapped like a package. Best part is I can use the crates to store things in. 

As we say in my classroom:  easy peasy lemon squeezey!!

Teachers Notebook

Yippee!!  We finally got our store up and running on teacher's notebook!!!  We have several units for sale there and would love for you to check us out...
Also we are loving instagram and we decided to have a contest there.  If you give us a shout out and follow us on instagram, you will be entered in a drawing to win anything in our teacher's notebook or Teacher's pay teacher's store.
Here is what we were working on this week....

You can pick up the unit HERE!

I also have a jungle/safari word wall as a freebie!

Click HERE for the freebie!

Made it Monday!

 So I made those adorable name sticks for my classroom!  I am going to use them to take turns with the iPad During group instruction. They could be used for all kinds of different things.   

First start with the larger popsicle sticks and some cute paper

cut the paper to the size of the  stick.  I wrap the paper around the stick.  paint on mod podge. (my nieces wanted to help).

Wrap the sticks with the paper and let dry.  When dry, cut rounded edges  and stick or glue on your favorite character or thematic element.

Ta da!!!  We are done....cute monkey sticks!!

DIY Project

I saw these really cute clipboards on Instagram and had to try them for my classroom!  I made six different styles in the  jungle/safari theme!  They are very easy to make, I know you all can do it!

So here is how I made them....

First start with a clear clipboard, cute paper, ribbon, stickers (stuff to match your theme).  You can also use spray glue.

Using a clear clipboard(I bought mine at deals). You only have to put the paper on one side if you use double sided paper.  Put the mod podge all over the paper stick down carefully.  I used a 2 color scheme.  I sprayed with clear coat when I was done to give it a shine.  Then wrapped with the ribbon and put some of the ribbon tied in a knot on the top to give it a finished look.  I added a jungle animal sticker and 2 zebra printed gemstones. (I am picky about the look).  I love the way they turned out!

This is the back of my clipboard.  I love only having to use one sheet of paper!

Jungle Organization Station

Cards and tag to organize a Jungle/Safari classroom!
You can pick up the unit HERE!

Here is a Jungle/Safari theme organization station to go with Kim's post on
              O is for Organization! click here

Label to organize all those school supplies!
If you need a label that is not here, let us
know and we will make it for you!

Jungle Quilt

So my mom is this amazing quilter and she gave me a quilt for my classroom!!  I am amazed at her talent and so blessed to have a mom who loves me enough to make my room spectacular!  I love this quilt!  It is hung proudly when you enter my room!!

Lioness Arising!

While I was in my room I snuck a couple more pictures of things in my room....Oh and I got this amazing elephant table at my wonderful bestie Kim's garage sale!

This is the elephant!  Isn't is great....

Each year our school has a theme with a verse attached.
This is 2010/2013 theme!

This is my behavior chart!  

Bad picture but I hung vine from my ceiling with flowers from the
dollar store and added a clothespin and bird.  I hang the kids work from the clothespins.

Jungle Fever!

LIONS, TIGERS, AND BEARS, OH MY!!!
It's Liz's Jungle Safari Theme in her classroom!
This is a Jungle Safari Bingo Game that I created for the first week of school to enhance any jungle theme.  You can pick it up Here!

A Jungle Journey!

A couple of years ago, I hit a roadblock in my teaching journey.  Little did I know that what transpired was not only going to put a spring back into my step, but it was going to transform my classroom and my whole professional career!  It all started when I had a classroom of spunky, rowdy kids. (I know some of you are thinking aren't all 4 year olds rowdy and spunky?) This group challenged me on all levels and kept me on my knees and in prayer the whole year.  The funny thing is, I love the kids who have spunk the most....so who knows maybe this was all in the plan.  At the end of the year I was questioning whether to sign my contract again...then something amazing happened.  I discovered blogging!  I went on an adventure and decided to change the theme in my room.  Well I spent 100s of hours (you bloggers know I am not exaggerating) searching and coming up with ideas, elements and the perfect theme for my room.  In the course of this searching I found this amazing group of teachers who helped me and shed light on my situation even though they did not know it because I was a blog stalker at that time and no one knew I even existed.  As I read their struggles and journeys I began to change my perspective and see my teaching in a new light!  I am so grateful for all I learned and suffice it to say I am a changed teacher and woman!  I want to give a shout out to a few of those amazing women:  Christina Bainbridge, Miss Kindergarten, Vanessa Levine at Pre-kpages, and Annie Moffat.  Thank you for this new journey...and now I am in the blogging world and loving it, loving my job and I say:  Bring on the next challenge!!  Here is my transformed room:

My calendar and job board

My beginning of the year bulletin board.  I add really cute huge letters
and coconuts!  We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Chicka Chicka 123
and we create a Glyph with our names!  Coming in the fall....

This is my reading center!  I have 2 body pillow out of zebra print, vines
hanging from the ceiling with velcro hanging animals that I picked up
at oriental trading.

This is where I have my centers posted.  I use monkeys with each kids
name to rotate around centers.  Fridays they get to pick their own centers.

This is near the entrance of my classroom!  I love this jeep!

Here is a close up of my jobs.  I change jobs weekly.  Jobs include:
teachers helper, prayer leader, calendar, door holder, flag holder,
line leader, and each of my tables have a table helper.