Gray and Yellow, Gray and Yellow...Target Treasures

Evening blogland! Gray and yellow, gray and yellow...! (Just a little shout out to Wiz Khalifa, my students last year loved that song and it pops in my head almost every time I think of my color scheme...) I just couldn't resist another post after my little Target adventure this evening. I went into Target with the intention of getting toilet paper, paper towels, and a few groceries...however, this all some how ended up in my cart before I even it made it close to my original destination! Ha! I am POSITIVE you, reader, have also experienced this once or twice. ;)

Here are all of the items sitting in my basement...please don't judge the messiness in the background of these little gems!

 

Now onto the Target Treasures...let me share with you each item and my intention for each- remember my goal, nothing exists in my room without a purpose! Believe it or not...I put some things back on the shelf because I couldn't think of a good reason for it to come home with me! Good girl, Al! ;) (I may or may not have said that out-loud in the store...)

These dry erase boards are from the dollar spot! It is a 5x6 board with a magnetic back.  The adorable design of course matched my color scheme perfectly! I bought 4, and am going to use them on each of my student tables.  I change my students' seats at least every two weeks and each time we switch they are working with a new "team." Each team must have a discussion about what they would like their team name to be- I let them totally handle it themselves! Usually they choose a theme based on a holiday, TV show, themed vocabulary word, or season.  Since I change them so often, I sometimes forget what names they have chosen!  So here's the purpose: Name plates for table team names!  They will be magnetized (with a magnetic strip I place on the tables) to each table to not only help me remember, but also to make it exciting to them...another thing THEY are in charge of!  SO EXCITED. I also am thinking about doing a 2-3 minute quiz game before lunch/specials each day to revisit the content of the day and let students answer in teams...writing their answers on their team boards! I think it will work nicely!

This yellow chair with a very sturdy metal base was only $7.00 (50% off clearance)!  If yellow does not match your color scheme...they also had red and green! I bought all they had, three, and can't wait to put them in my book nook, or at my listening center table!  My students visit "spots" around the room that they rotate through for independent reading- also mentioned in my Ideas and Ikea post about the pillows.  It's simply a different place for students to read to build their motivation and, again, reinforce that reading can be done anywhere! 

Below are double-sided dry erase word strips.  Four boards in pack for...a DOLLAR!  I saw these and my mind went so many places! These could be used everyday in every subject if you tried!  I plan to use them for students to respond in writing to questions I pose to them.  I am going to try to use them sporadically so that students must answer a simple, short questions in a short, complete sentence.  In science perhaps, I may ask them "Did the blue cylinder roll or stack?" Students could then respond on their dry erase sentence strip "The blue cylinder rolled!" This will also help them to be CONCISE as the sentence strip is not very long. (Which long term, we know, they need help with!) As the year goes on I will change the purpose of them, but I am trying my hardest this year to incorporate writing as MUCH as possible and am excited to have these babies at my disposal!

Below are two items that were purchased simply for me, again for $1 each! One is a to-do/check-list for the week, labeled Monday-Friday with small boxes to check off when the task is complete! It has a magnetic back to post easily in your classroom. (Checking off lists may be one of my favorite things to do. Anyone ever write tasks on their lists after you've accomplished them simply so you can check them off?! I do it ALL the time. HA!) The second item is a set of 5 differently patterned small sticky notes.  I will use them for student book marks, marking important documents, and for organization to help me stay sane. ;) 

(For some reason some pictures I load are coming out clear and some are blurry...weird...another kink I shall work out!)

Okay...so maybe this item's purpose is not quite totally figured out, but I LOVE it! This 4-shelf "sweater" storage bin was $2.50. Though I will not be using it to store sweaters...I have several ideas, just not sure which will work best yet. 1) Use it as an organizer for Daily 5 tasks,  2) Use it as an organizer for holiday/ themed books...or something!  Blogland...what do you think?! I'd appreciate any ideas - I am sure some of you have used something just like it before so send your thoughts my way!

Whew...so many terrific treasures...moving on....just a few more!

I bought 4 collapsible, rectangular storage bins for the purpose of organizing lunch boxes on top of my backpack rack outside my classroom door.  I also may use them for supply storage...we shall see how it plays out if I ever when I get into my classroom. Sorry- had to kick negative Nancy out and bring positive Polly back in...! ;)

The wire bin below will be used  to store communal supply items such as glue sticks, crayons, and markers.  I like this bin because the wire holes are small, small enough to where a crayon will stay in the bin AND I will still able to see through it to know when supplies are low or need to be trashed! (Nothing drives me more crazy than empty glue sticks or dried out markers in a bin to be used...!)

Adorable pencil/pen holders for $1! TOO STINKIN' CUTE, right?! I am going to use them to help organize pencils at each of my tables...with an extra for a Daily 5 activity.  I may glue them into a larger, bin- TBA.

OKAY...ready for this one...? I am going to use it as a birthday chart! Each hook will hold two months- with the names of the kiddos and the date hung in numerical order below.  Stay tuned for this one's reveal...

These 4 very sturdy bins will hold supplies for reach table...sitting with its dear friend the pencil holder in complete cuteness. ;)

This yellow tote was also $1 and will sit in my book nook area holding "teacher picked" books for the week! I wanted my picks, usually content themed or simply my favorites, to be easily maneuverable so students felt like they could move them around and read them at their leisure.  I plan on putting a cutesy tag on it - "READ ME! Picked for you by Mrs. Arnspiger!" 

This $1.99 bin will hold my recess supplies - can't believe I have never purchased something for this purpose before.  I know a lot of teacher's use these as well..what do you use them for?!

And last but not least...I had to purchase this book, "The Night Before First Grade" by Natasha Wing.  Adorable story, matching the rhythm/lines of the Night Before Christmas, about a girl who goes to school thinking she and her BFF (yes, I said it, BFF) will be in the same class and enrollment goes up (imagine that) so, the one first grade class splits into two- she's heart broken, but learns to meet new friends and enjoy her new class.  Cute story for the kiddos on the first day! It then could go into the poetry bin and be used as a fluency activity!

Again, can't wait to put all of this into action! Any other ideas you have, send them my way! Thanks for reading! Talk soon...!