More Summer Projects

Can't believe the summer is half over!  Oh my, have I still got a lot to accomplish, but I have crossed a few things off my to do list, one of them being to create and upload more files to Teachers Pay Teachers (and now on Teacher's Dojo, too!)

After receiving a few request via email, here's what's I came up with:

I made "Rock Star" passes for classrooms. They include

Boys' Bathroom Pass

Girls Bathroom Pass

2 Hall Passes

2 Office Passes

Nurse Pass

Library Pass

You can get them here on TpT for $1.00.

Also available with a "zebra print" border.  Get those here for $1.00 on TpT.

I also made the "Read Like a Rock Star" bunting available for purchase by itself.  It comes in both an orange and white version.

It's $2.00 on TpT.  You can get it here.

I've also updated my Genre bookmarks pack:

This pack now includes 28 genres (previously 19).

This Genre Bookmark pack can be found HERE on Teacher's Dojo.

I have also created a set of 28 Genre Posters. Here are are a few examples:

And here are a few other examples:

You can get the entire pack of 28 genres, HERE on Teacher's Dojo.

And finally, I put all the genre goodies together in one big Genre Mega Pack:

This pack includes posters, secret symbols and bookmarks for 28 genres.  You can purchase this pack HERE on Teacher's Dojo.

Use the posters and bookmarks in this pack for a Genre of the Month program.  (You can read about my Genre of the Month program on this post.)  Hide the secret symbols in books for the genre you are highlighting to encourage students to check out and read those types of books and they can earn a prize.  The genres included in the pack are 

Adventure
Animal Fiction
Biography
Autobiography
Blog
Comedy
Drama
Essay
Fables
Fairy Tales
Folk Tale
Legend
Myth
Tall Tales
Fantasy
Graphic Novels
Historical Fiction
Mystery
Non-fiction
Informational Text
Fiction
Poetry
Realistic Fiction
Reference
Science Fiction
Speech
Traditional Literature
Travel

I've also made some new shelf markers to go with the "Rock Star" theme of the Media Center.

I used some free paint sticks from Wal-Mart, silver spray paint, some glitter paint, sealer and some glitter stars to create these babies.  Love how they turned out.

Then I broke out my embroidery machine and made a few improvements on some simple t-shirts so that I would have more school spirit shirts to wear.

Our mascot is a Wildcat so I made a paw print applique and added MES for Moreland Elementary School. Kinda cute.

I also made a shirt for my nine year old son who has been bugging me to make him one, complete with his name.

He wants to create an "arcade" in our garage and this would be his "work" shirt.  LOL

He came up with the name on his own and we designed the logo together. It was a nice mother/son project.

Now I just have to start cleaning and organizing again.  My house is in desperate need of cleaning and organizing, too.  Maybe I will get it all done before the summer is over.  I can hope, right?

Summer Reading

Saint Joe Beach, Florida

So last week the fam and I headed to the beach and I took along some books to read, 'cause you know I can't just sit on the beach and do nothing.  Here's what I read while we were there...

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I really enjoyed this book as it falls into the same genre as The Hunger Games. The setting of this book is in a society which is supposed to be very Utopian but everything is very controlled and planned...even relationships, thus the title Matched.  I don't want to give too much away if you haven't read it yet, but I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series...Crossed.

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This was the next book I read.  It was so good, but definitely a heavy book as it dealt with death in the family due to a school shooting.  The main character in the book is an eleven year old girl with aspergers syndrome.  In the book, she keeps thinking that everyone doesn't "Get It," and everyone else is thinking that she doesn't "get it."  As a teacher, I loved that the book was from her perspective.  It really made me think about how I interact with some of my students. I highly recommend this book for any teacher.  It would also make a book good for a book club for upper elementary and middle school students, especially if there are any students in a class who don't interact well with students who are "differently challenged."

Then I went on a girly-girl book binge and read

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Basically all three of these books were about preteen or barely teen girls who are just discovering boys and who are dealing with changing friendships and fitting in.  It was pretty amazing how similar the themes all were even though the plots were all different.  And interestingly, all these books are part of different trilogies or sets.  I think the fourth and fifth grade girls at my school will enjoy these books so I will keep an eye out for the rest of the books in these sets.

And just to be fair, I have also started reading some "guy" books.  Two days ago I finished reading 

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This book started off really good, very sci-fi, but it ended with a literal "save the dolphins" political message, which I wasn't really crazy about. It's not that I don't think we should save the dolphins, it's just I didn't care for how it kind of snuck into the story.  But this book, too, is part of a set, so maybe the next book will be better.  I am curious to find out how the hero ends up using his super power.

And I have these four books on my night stand ready to read

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and

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I also have plans to catch up with Cari's S'More Tech Summer Camp.  

I am a bit behind, but I am super excited to dig in and get caught up.  You can check it out yourself here.  And then in a few weeks, I plan to go back to school and work on that super long to do list to get the Media Center even more ready for the up coming school year.  It'll be here before you know it. 

What about you?  How are you keeping busy this summer?  Read any good books lately?  I'd love to hear about it!

*I'm an affiliate for things I've bought or used personally.  If you click through any referral links (if included), at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you make a purchase.  Thank you for your support in this way.

A Rockin' Start to the Summer

So, I really haven't started my Summer Vacation yet. I've been at school every day since post-planning, well, Mondays-Thursdays anyway, working on my long summer to do list and I've gotten a few things crossed off the list.  Here's what I've done so far:

I've worked on organizing and correctly cataloging the book sets in the Media Storage room.  Here are pictures of my progres:

 50 boxes of Guided Reading Sets ready for classroom use

 A close up of the labels which I made individually for each box

Here's a sample of the types of books in the sets.

22 Guided Reading Chapter Book Sets

 A Close Up of the Chapeter Book Set Labels

12 sets of 30 different books, sorted by ascending reading level

 

A close up of the label on each set

 

Each set is labeled with bright neon labels desginating what set the books belong with to hopefully help keep books together and make them easy to spot if they get mixed in with classroom library books.

The books are labeled on the front and the back.

Here they all are, nice and organized.  Isn't it purdy?  ;)

That took most of two weeks so I rewarded myself by working on decorating the MC for next year in the "Read Like A Rock Star" theme.  Here are pictures of what I've done.

I made this using PowerPoint then printed off the slides, laminated and cut everything out.  Then I just had to hang it.  It's hard to see from this picture, but it reads "Read Like A Rock Star."

Then I started on the ciruculation desk.  I made a smaller version of the bunting/flags to go here.  This is the not quite finished photo.

And here's the completed picture.

Here is my Return Books desk.

And the corner of the circulation desk.  This sign says "Welcome Rock Star Readers!"

I made a new "how to check out" sign with rock star characters.

Then, I moved on to the outside entrance.

Here's a close up of the "iReader."  The signs reads "iRead...Do U?"

And another version of the "Welcome Rock Star Readers!" sign.

I used our school's poster maker to make the signs larger. It was so much fun making all the signs and decorations.  I even made new Media Center passes, bookmarks and punch cards.  If you're interested, I've uploaded some of these items on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Click here to get the 8 pack of Media Center/Library Passes. Only $1.00!

Click here to get the Group/Table signs.  Only $1.50!

Click HERE to get the "Read Like A Rock Star" Bookmarks.  Only $2.00!

Click HERE to get the iReader Punch Card Sampler.

If you want it all, you can get the entire pack of all the signs, bookmarks, buntings, passes, punch cards...everything for $7.00.  Click here to get it now.

Although I've done quite a bit, I still have a few projects left to do like...

organize and barcode all of this stuff...

and this stuff...

and the magazines on these shelves.

But after all the hard work these last few weeks, I am ready for a break.  We leave for Port St. Joe tomorrow and I can't wait to feel the sand between my toes!

What are you busy doing this summer?