Class Easter Baskets On a Budget!

If you're like me, you spend trillions (yes, trillions) of dollars on your classroom each year! I don't mind spending money for my kids' benefit (though it would be ideal not to have to spend my own money!) but I do like being able to spend less when I can, especially for something we do not use for very long. Also, I am not a minimalist, but I do believe in having and storing as little as possible! I don't buy certain things for my classroom simply because I don't want to store it!! No pumpkins or Easter baskets for this girl!! Next week, we will be using Easter baskets and eggs for math manipulatives and I almost hyperventilated at the idea of having to buy Easter tubs or buckets or whatever for all of my students to use AND THEN store for the next twelve months!! Also, I wanted each of my 22 students to have enough eggs to work some of the problems we will have (with sums going up to 18). Ain't no way I'm buying that many baskets and eggs! My solution??:

Easter egg cups and pom poms!! The cups were 4 for 97 cents at Wal-Mart and the pom poms were around $3.00 for about 100 of them! Now I have enough baskets and eggs for all of the kids AND I can store them easily! Winning!!

Use the bigger ones for a more eggy look.

What do you think??? How do you feel about storing things?

Also, don't forget to check out my writing post from yesterday! I explain how writing is set up in my 1st grade classroom.

I have a writing pack giveaway going on it right now that I am actually extending until tomorrow. Here is what is at stake:

Check it out by clicking here! Have a fun Friday night!!! 

Let's Write!

My Math Block Mini-Series will conclude tomorrow (gotta get more pictures!). In the meantime, enjoy reading about writing in my classroom! :)

Writing has always been one of my favorite subjects and I am loving that I get to teach it this year! My kids have become such super writers over the past few months! Here is how it goes in my classroom...

Writing in Daily 5
We use Daily 5, so writing is one of the choices my students have each morning. When they choose Work On Writing is up to them UNLESS the Work On Writing sign is out, which it usually is 1-2 times per week (mostly on the days we do not have Writers Workshop).

My students really love to write, so most of them choose it whether the sign is up or not. (By the way, I made the sign out of construction paper; it's a little smaller than a 12 x 18 piece of construction paper.)

Work On Writing is extra special for two students each week! Each week I choose 2 writers of the week and these awesome little authors get to sit at the special writing table during writing in Daily 5 and during Writers Workshop work time: 

 Above the table hangs this awesome little star I got from The Dollar Tree! In the background, you can see the The "Writers of the Week" bulletin board. It has the names of the super writers with some writing samples. I write their names on the coconuts.

The writers also get to use these special materials to write/color with:

Everyone's writing is displayed in the corner behind the writing table. (The writing table actually used to be over here but I had to make room for two more computers so out it went.) After students have published a piece, they can choose to put it in their writers notebook or display it on the wall.

On the other side of the classroom is our Writing Center. In the Writing Center, you will find rough draft paper, publishing paper, publishing bookets, and revising and editing tools.

The students are required to complete a rough draft before getting fancy publishing paper or a booklet (which is no problem for them!).

They draw and write on the rough draft, revise/edit, and then turn it in to the "Ready to Publish" bucket. I check all of the papers that come in and will either hand it back marked "Publish" or I will individually conference with them if need be. In an individual conference, we usually revise/edit a little more though sometimes this time is spent discussing handwriting, conventions, or reviewing proper procedures for those still struggling.  Since I do not immediately return papers because I am involved in small groups during Daily 5, the student knows to start another draft until the paper turned in is handed back to be published.

I have custom-made all of our publishing paper. I used frames, borders, and shapes to make some of the pages (easy peasy). 

I had a bunch of weird colored paper at home so I took it to school and copied lines on it! There are about 6 or 7 colors to choose from. They LOVE it and I got to get it out of my house (win-win).

Gotta have big erasers for big mistakes.

Colored pencils to help us revise and edit. They are GOOD at it! We also sometimes use these to help us color.

We will start letter writing this week, so I will add letter paper and envelopes to the station after we finish. I will update you on that when the time comes!

Finally, friends, I hope you have been able to use the little writing activities and freebies I have posted in the past few months! Click here to access all of my writing freebies, in case you missed out. Over the last few weeks, I have been working on a writing notebook package that will be finished sometime in Octember (Seuss fans will appreciate that joke). In the meantime, I have made some little writing packs:

Each pack includes graphic organizers, charts, prompt pages/publishing paper, literature list, and a craftivity related to the subject. I have started making several of these and will be releasing them as I get them finished. I really hope this is something you can use because I am excited about them! I will definitely use them in my own classroom.

I would LOVE for some of you to take a peek at it, so leave your name and an email address and I will send 3 of you a copy of your choice. I will randomly choose tomorrow evening. Now, go forth and write!

The winners have been announced. Thanks for your interest! :)

WInnah! Winnah! Winnah!

Here are the winners of Eggy Math and Literacy!

I will email you--I hope you three enjoy the pack!

You can check it out in either store!

My post tomorrow is allll about writing and how I do it in my classroom. After that, I will finish up My Math Block Mini-Series as I am lacking a few pictures for the explanation. See you then!