DIY Bookmark Reward

I wanted to do something to reward students who had gotten no mark during the first 3 weeks of this 6 weeks. When I was at the dollar store, I saw they had foam bookmarks with other foam shapes to decorate, so I figured that'd be perfect.

I got all the above supplies for $5 - that's 10 bookmarks, 32 sheets of foam so my kids could cut out whatever shape they wanted, 248 foam letters, and some glue. It was more than enough - I still have lots of foam left over.

So while the rest of the class was working this afternoon, I pulled the 8 who had no marks aside to help them work on their bookmarks. I drew names for the order in which they picked their bookmark color, foam colors, and letters (everyone was able to get the letters they wanted, in the colors they wanted).

The bookmarks turned out really cute and the kids loved it!

Organization Ideas

Today I was looking through the pictures on my phone trying to decide what to post about today. I finally decided just to do a hodgepodge of ideas.

This is an idea I got from pinterest. I put an empty toilet paper roll inside a plastic cup for my popsicle sticks with student names. The popsicle sticks stay inside the roll until after I call on the student. Once I've selected a student I put it there popsicle stick outside the roll, unless I may want to call on them again.

Because I've now spent four years teaching science, and have never actually taught reading, most of my classroom books are about science. Just like I have my other books split up by genre, I split my science books based on topic.

I got this organizer from Dollar Tree. It is perfect for happy notes, nurse passes, change in transportation forms, missing work notices, and other small items.

I bought a bunch of used games and puzzles from thrift stores for indoor recess. I am storing them on a shelf hidden behind a grass skirt, also from the dollar store, that goes along with my Safari theme. Goodwill has a lot of good games and toys for decent prices. I even got a huge tub of Legos.

I do not have a closet in my portable for students to put their backpacks. I do, however, have a coat rack. To store their backpacks, I bought sturdy hangers to make use of the coat rack. Students hook their handle handle around the hanger.

So I don't have to pass everything out separately, I keep whiteboards, dry erase markers, and wash cloths in baggies. The baggies currently being used are gallon sized, which doesn't work as well. My favorite was the 2 gallon bags because the whiteboards could go in sideways and the bag could fold over. This makes it so much easier when every student is using a whiteboard.

Dollar Store Finds!

I wasn't planning on shopping today, but when I drove by the dollar store near my house, I saw that they were going out of business and everything was $0.19, so I absolutely had to stop. I love a deal! I could have gone crazy in that store, but I decided to behave myself. I bought only things for my classroom, and I only got things that I had a use for - I did not buy things on the chance that I may find a use for them later on (I do that sometimes too). I got all these goodies for less than $5.

I felt like I won the lottery. :)

Stickers.

Pencil grips to use as a reward.

Can always use magnets.

I think I ended up with about 20 containers total to organize my drawers.

Six place mats. Now this one I don't have an exact idea for, but I'll be putting paper on them and having the flowers as the border. I just don't know exactly what papers will go on them yet.

This is a makeup case I'll be using for paperclips, push pins, etc.

If I didn't have somewhere I needed to be, I'd have walked through the store a second time to see what I could come up with.