Desire to Celebrate: Motivational Bracelets

I am so excited about the easiest and *coolest* motivational tool that I am bringing into the classroom! It is my goal to go a little out of the way for each student every week and highlight something that they have done that I think is really fantastic! I really believe that every child deserves their moment in the spotlight, and so I am going to make it happen!

We are all guilty of becoming so busy that phone calls and parents letters don’t always happen, and if they do, at least 75% of the time, they are about negative behaviors! Sad…but so true! Since my kiddos have been so into these duct tape bracelets and silly bands lately, I thought why not run with the idea! These bracelets will motivate my students and show parents that they did something outstanding and will promote that positive contact from school to home!

I will be giving success bracelets to students when they have a shining moment! I love…love…love the brag tag idea, but just can’t spend another dime! So, I made my own “brag bracelets”, and I think the kids will adore them! It’s the small things right?!?

Here is a look at just a few of the bracelets included in the pack!

Also included in this pack are bracelets that remind students about our quotes found on our inspirational words wall from my Desire to Inspire Pack!

Here is a look at what is included:

You can pick up both of these units at TPT anytime!

I am off to get my planning on for the week! I hope that you are all enjoying this beautiful Sunday! Here’s to a great week!

Hot off the Runway!

This week has been all about adjectives as we try and get back to our “show me” rather than “tell me” writing! Today was our big adjective runway show…NYC style!

The kiddos came dressed in complete runway style ready to work it on the catwalk! And let me tell you…they were FIERCE! I say this often, but this was one of my favorite writing activities! We turned up the music and off they went…

We even had a visit from Steven Tyler! This kid is hilarious!

As each child walked down the runway to show off their fashionable attire, we “rated” their outfit. However, our numbers did not  represent our opinion of their duds, but rather how many adjectives we could think of to describe what they had on. Then we typed up a list of all of our descriptive words to keep in our writing folders.

When our models walked back down the runway, the kiddos held up these flipbooks with the number of adjectives they could name to describe their attire.

Let’s just say the runway didn’t look a thing like this when we were finished! We had way too much fun!

If you are interested in this activity, you can find it in my Suzie Adjective Unit!

Here is a link to our runway jams…

Wooohooo….Friday is here! Have a great night!

Backpacks and a Mod Podge High

What is it about having a Monday off that makes Tuesday way crazy?!? Or Maybe it was the rain?!? Either way, today kept me on my toes! However, I am beginning to think that I may be getting the hang of this third grade thing…just maybe! ;)

Tonight is going to be short and sweet, but I wanted to share two things that I am loving right now!

1. Backpacks:

 

This year I decided to make the change from desks to tables! I. Am. In. Love! Nothing makes me happier than to have nice straight rows rather than desks everywhere! Perfectionist??? Me??? No way!!!! Ha! No matter what I did, the desks were always a hot mess in my room! I had my reservations about tables and wanted to find the perfect way to store all of their “stuff” that is usually kept inside their desks. I knew cubbies wouldn’t be large enough and didn’t want them up and down all day long! I swear it came to me in a dream…backpacks! The kids keep all of their materials in their “supply packs” as we call them and their textbooks in their cubby! It is the perfect solution and works so well! I love them and they have lots of pouches to keep them nice, organized, and clean…just the way I like it!

 

2. Mod Podge Journals

We make these cute mod podge journals every year, and the kids always get so excited about adding their own personal touch to their notebooks. Well…something you should know about me…when I like something…I REALLY like it! So…we went a little mod podge crazy! This year, we added our South Carolina History Journals to the mix! The finished projects made me so giddy…or maybe that warm and fuzzy feeling came from the smell of glue that filled my room for a solid day! :) Either way…I love how they turned out!

  

We used SC symbols to decorate our SC journal! It was a nice little introduction to SC History!

Well…that is all I have for you tonight, friends! I will be back this week with my newest unit that will compliment my Desire to Inspire Subway Art Pack! So excited about sharing this with you!

Here is to making tomorrow your best Wednesday yet! ;)

EconoMONEY in Action

Last week, we were full speed ahead in third grade! Along with learning about reader’s and writer’s workshop, we were also able to dive in to one of our newest additions, which also happens to be a class fave…EconoMoney! After getting my feet wet with a classroom economy last year, I was excited, yet nervous, at implementing an economy at such a large scale. It has been a great experience for the kids and is not only teaching them the value of money, but also of hard work. I am loving it so far! Here is a quick look at what went down last week with our EconoMoney (iPhone style…excuse the quality of the pictures)! 

The students worked in their analysis groups to write contracts and agree upon salaries for our classroom jobs. They were so excited about their analysis groups and worked so well together!

Each student will now hold a position for one month and will then apply for new positions. I wish I had taken a picture of their applications. They were the sweetest things ever! The kids were super excited the next day to find out which position they had been hired for!

   

Once we had our classroom jobs assigned, it was time to design a currency. They students all shared their reasoning behind how they chose to design their money. Our money will have pictures of myself, our principal, and our student teacher in the middle! Here is a look at what last year’s money looked like!

Then, we had to find out just how we could earn this new money! The students did a wonderful job learning how to calculate their credits and debits!

 

Their first week’s salary will be waiting for them on Monday morning, along with their new EconoMoney wallets.

 

I found these cute little “wallets” at Wal-Mart for 50 cents. They are perfect!

If you would like to motivate your students through a classroom economy, you can check out this unit on TPT!

Customizable:

Or Not:

I hope that you are all enjoying a LONG weekend! I am trying to rest up for what I know will be a super busy week! Happy Monday, friends!

South Carolina Meet-Up

Yes, yes, yes…we are still on and I am so excited to meet-up with some my SC blogger friends! September snuck up on me WAY too fast! Maybe it is because my brain hasn’t left school for more than 30 minutes in the past two weeks! I am sure you are feeling the crunch as well! Glad those first two weeks are finally over, and I am super thankful to have tomorrow off to pull myself back together! Ha!

About the meet-up: 

On September 15, we will meet-up in Columbia from 11:00a.m.-2:00p.m. to chat away. We will announce the location in the next week as soon as we have a general idea of how many of you to expect! I have created a Facebook Event over on my FB page for Shenanigans! If you are planning on coming to the meet-up, please join the event and stay tuned for more details coming VERY soon!

Click on the picture below to view the event!

I hope that you are all having a very blessed…LONG…weekend! ;)