Monday Made-It!

I was supposed to be apartment hunting all day but that got postponed till tomorrow, so today I was busy crafting on....

So my Monday Made-It consisted of finishing one of my projects from last week and starting a new one!

Monday Made-It #1: Finish All About Me teacher big book

I'M FINALLY DONE!!! (Except for laminating, but I'll do that tomorrow!) And I have to tell you, it was TOTALLY worth all the effort. This is not only going to be a perfect way to introduce myself to my students, but can be a wonderful way for their parents to learn about me as well!

Here are a few pictures of the almost finished product :)

 

 

Monday Made-It #2: Colored Pasta for my Sensory Table!

I've seen it all over Pinterest and all over different blogs and I knew I wanted to make this for my kiddos for the fall! I started by going to Aldi and buying about 20 lbs. of pasta. It sounds like a lot because it is haha! It has to fill my sensory table people :) Then I went to Target to get gallon baggies, food coloring, and rubbing alcohol. All in all, I spent about $30 on all the materials.

I figured this would be a good poolside activity :)

After buying everything, I was thinking that maybe I could have found it cheaper just buying already made....definitely not. I looked it up when I got home and WOW! That stuff is expensive. But if your school will buy it for you, here is the equivalent to what I made on a couple of different websites:

Rakuten Shopping: $6.49/lb. ($140=20 lbs.)
Discount School Supply: $5.99/lb. ($120=20 lbs.)
S&S Worldwide: $8.79/lb. ($176=20 lbs.)


I opened the biggest box first, and then used it as a mixer for the rest to keep the food coloring off my hands.

First, you add 1/4(ish) cup of rubbing alcohol.

Next, you add 5-10 drops of food coloring (or more) depending on how vibrant you want your colors. I added closer to 10!

Then I just closed the bag, picked up the box and shook until it was mixed. I then doubled bagged it and laid it out to dry.  Mine stayed in the closed bag for about 2 hours before I laid them out on newspaper. The sun dried them FAST!

My colors may be a tad less vibrant than these premade ones, but I think it's safe to say I came out ahead :)

 

 

 

 

 I'm very happy with the results! Go over to 4th Grade Frolics and check out all the other awesome Monday Made-Its!

Enjoy the week!
Sarah

Welcome to the Pizza Place!

Hey everyone,

Since I got my teaching job, all I have been doing is researching ways to make my classroom great. I have been reading articles, lesson plans, and of course tons of blogs! Recently, I have found a ton of information on dramatic play centers that I love! Grocery stores, costume shops, shoe stores, and pizza hut's are just a few of the ideas I've found.

For the last few days I have been working on materials for what I call "The Pizza Place." I got the start of my idea from Shari Sloane (http://kidscount1234.com/). I love the idea of a pizza place for my students to practice not only academic skills such as addition, subtraction, money concepts, reading and writing, but also social skills such as taking turns, following directions, and manners.

I have created a restaurant sign, a menu for the "customers," ingredients labels for the "cooks," step by step directions for the "cooks," an order pad for the "servers," and the pizza place wall words for our dramatic play center word wall. I have not quite figured out how to attach documents to my posts yet, but as soon as I do, I will give everyone a preview!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as I am! It is so hot here, the heat index was 115 today! Whew, so glad I have a pool!

Stay cool,
Sarah