Stations! Stations! Stations!

 So, I thought I would spend the next few weeks posting some pictures of my favorite stations.  I will start with something really simple---Rainbow Writing Word Work.  It is the simplest station, but my students always enjoy this.  We only do this one about once a month or so.  I certainly don't want them to get tired of it, but using smelly markers and colored pencils always seem to make it even more fun!

I completely forgot to include this at the beginning of the year.  This was a great way to get to know each other during the first week.  My firsties had so much interviewing their partners. 

Next week, I will continue to post station ideas each day that have been a big hit with my Firsties!

Daily Folders

This is something that just makes life so much easier for me as a parent and a teacher.  All of our teachers use these at school, and they are just a wonderful way to keep up with everything each week.  When you open these folders, they have a pocket that says 'Send Back to School' and one that says 'Keep at Home'.  Plus, I love the clear pockets on the front and back to personalize my students' folders.  Plus, they are super easy to clean. 

My Alphabet Box

 I just love posting things about organization...I know I have a problem, but it is my gift. 

 I finally took all of my punch-out letters that I use for bulletin boards or just whatever, and I put them in this cool box I found on Amazon.  It is so easy for me to put words together for my boards now.  I love taking them, making words with them, then laminating the words together.  I think it makes it look so cool.  For example, I just made the words "Number Patterns" for something I am putting up in my room with my Firsties' pictures.  They look like dominoes or dice patterns.  I will take a picture of it for another post.

Lunch Board

 I came up with this idea last year to help organize my morning routines.  My kids love this Lunch Board with magnets.  As soon as they come in, they place their magnet in the correct area on our chart.  They move it to Hot Lunch, Cold Lunch, or Brought Lunch.  It is so easy for me to glance at the chart and jot their names down quickly.  Plus, as an added bonus- they will all have a nice little name magnet to take home at the end of the year. 

I bought these magnify magnets at Oriental Trading and they are super easy to make.  The dry erase/magnetic board is from Staples.  I used purple masking tape to make my lines and magnetic frames are at the top. 

"Paws" & Think

 In staying with my purple theme, I also found these cool paws.  I tried a lot of jobs last year which was way too much trouble, so at the end of the year- I finally came up with two jobs that my students really loved.  I have a Super Line-Up Leader who is in charge of leading the line and picking the line-up song.     I also have a Teacher's Pet who holds the door, passes out soap at lunch, takes the lunch count, and is actually the Teacher's Pet all day long.  They get to do everything!  I just have the boys' names on one ring, and the girls' names on the other.  I switch them once everyone has had a turn.  It is so EASY!  This year, I also added the necklaces that are shown below.  They love wearing their own tags each day, and honestly, they are even keeping them really clean.  They hang them back on the wall before going outside.  They are very responsible with them!

 I have also carried my "Paws" theme into our vocabulary words for the week.  The kids look for Paws (Pause) words everywhere all week long.  They get so excited when they find them, and they say, "We have to Pause- I found a Paws word!"  We are only eight days into the year, and this idea took off pretty well.  I love these purple paws!

Read with Me...

 Along with my princess crown (which reminds my little Firsties to stay at their own station while I am teaching my "Royal Subjects"), I found some other cool things that I love to use with my students during my Read with Me station.  I love these cool Before Guided Reading spinners to get my children actively involved with thinking about what we are about to read together.

And I LOVE, love, love these purple reading chips that let them choose the questions to ask after we have read our story in our group.  They love having something to hold onto while they get to be the teacher during our small group time.

Hula Hoops & Helpers!

 I just have to say thank you to my sweet daughter and wonderful Best Friend/Husband for helping me with my room this summer.  I just don't know what I would do without my helpers!  I set up a new little area for my Bean Bag/Reading Station this year.  So far, my students are really loving the little nook.

 We are getting started with our "Time 4 Writing" early this year.  I started with my Hula Hoop Venn Diagram on the first day of school.  It was a great activity that the students really enjoyed.  We moved on to learning about Web Diagrams this week.  I am amazed by what my little Firsties are able to do!  I have also added some whole brain gestures to my writing process which has proved to make writing a thousand times more fun!