Keeping Up With Kirbys

How do you celebrate birthdays in your classroom?   Silly straws for the win from Dollar Tree!!  Plus, I have always made a class book with my kids and I decided to give a fresh, sweet new look. Every student gets a page the morning of the birthday student's special day.  This is the morning work for the day ;-) . My birthday student gets to decorate the cover. The kids love reading the sweet birthday messages from their classmates AND it's a sweet keepsake to go back and revisit.  PLUS, it's free!  I like to give my birthday student a little treat like a pencil or silly straw.  This year I found silly straws at the Dollar Tree, six for a $1.  Woot! Woot! But I think the birthday book would be just fine.   A lot of my kids would keep these in their desk or backpack and pull them out to reread throughout the year. You can pick up the tags and book { here }. Have a SWEET day!

I'm sure you can picture my cabinets at the house and I'm positive that I would drive some of you crazy but my sweet family has learned to LOVE it....I think.  Josh doesn't even ask me anymore if I want him to save....this or that, he just washes the container and puts it away for me.  He's pretty great.  If you read my last post then you know that I bought WHITE enamel paint on accident. Well, I decided to use it on some of my jars in the cabinet. I needed another (yes another) place to keep writing utensils.  I'm a teacher....we love all the writing things. ;-) This paint was perfect for the jars.  I love how the color turned out.  I cut up some old fabric for the ribbon around the top. A circular sponge made the just right polka dots and I taped off one of the jars and used chalkboard spray paint to cover the bottom. Yes, that's glitter on my workbench.  Every girl needs glitter all over her workbench, right?! The writing is v...

Well, it's not really Christmas and if you ask Josh he would say that he has received what would be equivalent to coal for some people... 😁 Especially when he was helping pull nails from all of these.  Yes, this is a TON of scrap wood.  My neighbor, the one who gave us garage lights, gave me a trailer FULL of scrap wood.   I'm super excited BUT also a little overwhelmed.  I normally have 8-9 pieces and have to get really creative if I want to make something.  {{$35 dollars plus shipping - click  here  to purchase 1ftX2ft with hanger on back to hang on wall}} This Texas sign was my last project I made with all my scraps.  I loved how it turned out! I think it would look great with a heart burned in it where you live...or where someone you love lives.  Last week I attempted to make a giant Jenga for the classroom.  Well, I didn't measure my pieces across the top and just decided to cut each piece 10...

I have some NEW fonts for you!  You can stop by my TPT store and download Volume 4 for FREE. I LOVE how they turned out.  I think my favorite is "SK No Bones About It"- perfect for October or a Pirate Themed classroom, "SK Stitches" - I think this will be a fantastic fall font, "SK Thick Nick"- perfect for....EVERYTHING, and "SK Star Student" - great for notes to you Star Student.   I've also added a silly but fun font that mixes letters and pictures.  This could be used to write code messages for students to try and figure out... This is just a fun and silly one...I must have had too much time to play around. You can download these new fonts here .  They are FREE in my TPT for the weekend.

W hile I wait patiently for the wax to do its school floor magic I continue to plan procrastinate. <-truth Each week at my school we spend about 20 minutes completing what we call R time activities. This time is used to build classroom/school community, respect for others, respect for property, and learn to work cooperatively with a partner or group. We sing a song, find a partner, shake their hand, look at them while speaking in complete sentences, and work together on an assignment or a mission.  I've created partner match-up cards for the first nine weeks of school to help students find a partner while reviewing a previously taught skill. These cards are quickly passed out and the students find their match to determine who they will be working with. Our very first back to school R-time activity will be to Find a Friend... First, they will look for a friend that fits their card AND th ey must also match that friend's card.  It will create discussion am...

Feeling Adventurous?! Some people try a new hairstyle or a fun new paint color in their house. Not me.... As I sit here and type with my left hand only, I'm thinking about how nice a new hairstyle would feel.  The down time has given me time to go through some of my old TPT products and give them a little LOVIN' .  If you want a fun Back to School activity to help kids learn something interesting about their classmates then you might like the Getting to Know You Bags . 

Yes, I said NEW .  That's because I'm moving in the building, folks. I am thrilled to be in the building and definitely feeling a little more relaxed this year.  I MEAN REALLY... 1. I'm not sending a kid to college this year 2. I'm not moving from my town that I lived in for 14 years 3. I'm not leaving my school district that I LOVE and have been apart of for 14 years 4. I'm not closing on a new house  5. I'm not moving into a new house 6. My husband is not changing careers 7. My tween daughter is not going to a new school-leaving her friends she's had since Pre-K  Ummmm....that sounds like crazy train! I was on that train last year. I'm excited to be a little more relaxed and settled.  I like to make the things that I want to hang up around my room before I can get in my classroom.  This year I'm going to keep the same colors (bc I don't want to spend any extra money) that I had last year. I plan on d...

These summer Fridays are coming and going a little too fast.  I met with some of my teamies this week.  Actually, it was 1st and 2nd grade......it's always nice to catch up and  share ideas.   We ate, talked, ate, stressed, laughed, and talked some more.  Loved it! A get together just doesn't seem appropriate without a little back to school goodie, right?!  And who doesn't LOVE some Bath and Body lotion??!! If you need to throw together a quick little gift please feel free to use these tags. { click here } Hop over to TBA to check out other { FREEBIES } this Friday. Have a SWEET day, friends!!

I love hearing all about the kids and what they love.....and they LOVE to tell you about themselves.  I'm linking up with Tara for her Monday Made It, so I can share this little freebie with you. Thank you Tara for bringing all these wonderful ideas to one place.   Inferencing can be tricky to teach but if we are talking and thinking about it with the things that are most important to the kids then maybe we can make it easier for them.  This activity is, Show and Tell, using clues to help the kids (and teachers) to get to know each other.  This activity also has friend cards that they can fill out and take home to share something they learned about each classmate. You can pick it up at my TPT store. It's been a busy week but I've accomplished..........nothing crafty (boo!). I've tried to get back in my running routine and my little sass wanted to run with me.  Awwww....so sweet, I'm thinking she's probably going to slow me down but that'...