Back to School Sale!!!

It's Back to School time and I am taking part in the TPT Back to School Sale. You can save 20% on selected goodies 8/12-8/13.  I hope you visit my store, 3rd Grade's a Hoot and find something new you can use in your classroom.  Don't forget to check out the other fabulous TPT stores taking part in this event.  Hop on over to Blog Hoppin' to see all of the other participants!  Happy Back to School everyone!

Fab Pencil Label FREEBIE!

Check out this cute pencil clip art I snagged today.  I have had the same pencil basket labels for 6 years so I think it's time I updated.  I was so excited about these cute pencils I saw on Pinterest.   I just had to buy them and create something in a hurry.  Here is a fab FREEBIE for you and tomorrow I promise PIRATES!!!!!

Classroom Compulsion Giveaway

Hello blogsters!  Just wanted to drop a line and let you know my friend over at Classroom Compulsion is having her very 1st giveaway and I have donated an Owl Classroom Decor Pack as one of the prizes.  She has some other fantastic prizes as well.  Head over to her blog and show her some love.  Toodles!

A Sweet, Sweet Classroom Theme

I am so frazzled thinking about the bajillion things on my "Summer To-Do" list and the fact that school is just right around the corner scares the bejeezus out of me.  I finally finished my cupcake theme classroom pack and literacy signs and now I am sitting here with my laptop and a tall glass of sweet tea struggling to blog.  Anyone out there ever been so tired you just can't think of anything cutesy or witty to say?  Well I have reached that point.
I am super tired but I couldn't wait to share this sweet theme with y'all! 

 

Click here to grab yours!

Of course I had to create a coordinating clip chart to go with it...

Click here to grab it too!

 and Literacy Signs...

Click here for your set

and Cafe Signs (free!!!)...

 Grab them here!

and here is another freebie just to SWEETEN the deal...

Up next is a Pirate Sized 1000th follower (OMGoodness) giveaway!

Toodles!

Superhero Clip Chart is HERE!!!

So I am on a mini vacay not too far from home.  Spent all day at the pool working on my tan and now I am cooling off in my comfy king size trying to be productive.  So... if you remember in a post from last summer, I was preparing to implement the clip chart system in my superhero themed classroom.    I thought of some cute sayings for each level of the chart and then I fashioned it out of cardstock. I used my Cricut to cut all of the lettering.  OMGoodness  that was so not fun!  It was cute enough though.    Some of you have asked about the superhero version of the clip chart and I finally got around to making a matchy matchy one that will go with all of superhero stuff in my TPT store.    I don't know why I didn't think of this last year.  I would have loved to have this in my room instead.    You can grab your Superhero Clip Chart right HERE!!!!

I will be sharing the recording sheets that I use to manage the clip chart system  as soon as I can access the computer in my classroom.  Toodles for now!

Sonic Drinks and Summer in the Classroom

It has begun! Waking up (not too early), running to Sonic (early enough to get my 99 cent cherry limeade), and then heading up to my sweltering classroom. We are lucky enough to turn our air on and it will stay on for an hour before we need to go over and click it to add another hour. I did this 5 times by the way (yep that's 5 hours of summer work today) which is why I am not currently in a puddle of melted loveliness laying in my classroom floor. I am so stinkin tired but I am also very excited because my "owl extravaganza" classroom is starting to really take shape. Marisa (first grade glitter and giggles) and I spent the past two days building ridiculously cute trees for our Daily 5 and Cafe boards. They are not quite finished yet but I will give you a sneak peek in just a sec. What I am currently obsessed with, aside from sonic drinks, is my Owl Writer's Eye board that I put together right before I left today. I love, love, love it! Check it out!

Totally fab and created especially for me by my uber talented bestie. You can get your own cuteness right  HERE!

 Now for the very rough and incomplete tree that will hopefully be finished tomorrow...

My Daily 5 signs will go up on the higher branches and the bottom is for CAFE. I hope to have a complete board to show you tomorrow night. Toodles!

Sweet Giveaway

Mrs. E over at The Sweet Life of Third Grade is having a fabulous 500 follower giveaway.  There are 36 chances to win.  You have a chance to win my new Owl Classroom Decor Pack!!!!

Freebie Owl Classroom Clip Chart- Something to Hoot about!

 Classroom management is a bit of an art form in my eyes.  Some teachers just have it "going on" in that department and others struggle not to pull their hair out by the end of each day.  I think after 5 years of teaching I kind of fell somewhere in the middle.  I have always had really strong procedures and transitions and all of that but I was still tweaking my system each year.  Last summer I stumbled upon this FREE ebook and thought it sounded like exactly what I needed to try in 3rd grade.  I love how everyone has an opportunity to move up the chart by making good choices.  I feel like so much time is spent on the students who don't make great choices and sometimes those babies that always do the "right" thing are not acknowledged the way they should be.  So my clip chart last year was Superhero theme (click here) to see the earlier post.  Everyone started on "Ready to Fly" and had the chance to move up to "Superhero" or move down to the dreaded "Kryptonite".  At the end of each day my behavior recorder (one of my classroom jobs) would go around and record a number on each kiddo's discipline calendar. Easy Peasy!

 I just used a 3 drawer Sterilite cart to hold the rewards.  I had stickers in the bottom drawer, bookmarks, pencils, and erasers in the middle drawer, and the coveted top drawer held toys (think little party favor type, nothing major).  I would just call out Superheroes and they would go choose their reward.  Then those students that were on Sidekick or Soaring would go grab theirs.  Yes they did this each day and Yes that was a lot of rewards, however I put them on my wishlist at the beginning of the year as well as included them on my weekly newsletter when we ran low.  Parents were glad to donate because it was super easy for them to grab something we needed from the dollar bins at Walmart or Target.  The clip chart worked like magic for my thirdsters.  They were so proud to move up and be recognized for making the right choices.  They loved the rewards but hands down their favorite was getting a little bling (just a rhinestone sticker) added to their clip when they reached Superhero Status.  Even my boys loved the bling.
The clip chart has been the easiest and I feel most beneficial behavior management system I have used so needless to say you will find one hanging in my classroom this next year for sure. Of course it has to be "owly" and so here is what I came up with.

Here's where the real hoot comes in...it's FREE!  You can click HERE and download it in my TPT store.  I think it's going to look fab in my owl classroom.  Toodles for now! 

A Little Facelift

Ok, so I have been updating some of the things I created last summer.  I plan on using all of my "owl stuff" in my own classroom this year as I posted a couple of days ago.  I decided to give my Owl Cafe signs a little facelift so that they would coordinate better with my Daily 5 update.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  I hope you like them!  You can check them out in my TPT store by clicking HERE!

Up next is my Owl behavior clip chart!  Toodles friends!

Definitely a Hoot!

Well I have finished my first year as a 3rd grade teacher and it was definitely a HOOT.  3rd grade is nothing short of a marvelous challenge. I have not had a chance to even breathe let alone blog since January.  We managed to have a fabulously adventurous year jam packed with learning together as we prepared for the mysterious new STAAR test.   I am thrilled to pieces to be past that hurdle and am so ready for a relaxing summer of blogging, creating, and sharing. 

Every May it hits me!  I become obsessed with redoing my classroom.  This year was no exception.  Since my blog is owl themed it seems only fitting that my classroom follows suit.  So... I have been feverishly working on this Owl Classroom Decor pack.  I included an adorable welcome banner (just add ribbon), table numbers, locker tags (or desk plates), subject headers, calendar numbers and months. 





I got some  bright tissue paper poms from Party City and attached the table numbers to them with fancy ribbon.  Hung them from the ceiling and voila! Not a new concept but I love it!

I revamped my Word Wall and Owl Daily 5 signs as well.   I can't wait to put it all together!    Of course I had to create a freebie print for y'all.  In keeping with my mantra from last year I had to do another Keep Calm for you to frame!

Click HERE to grab your free print.
I also have some name tags for you HERE.

Math Problem Solving Posters

I have had a very busy day filled with cleaning and organizing.  All in an effort to cross things off my gnarly to-do list.  I was happily crossing off and then I came to "Finish Math posters" and ugh... I really had to force myself.  I have been working on these for a little while and I have even deleted and started all over once or twice because they just didn't look right.  I am pretty happy with the final product and can't wait to print these babies out and hang them up tomorrow for my thirdsters. Click HERE to get your posters!  Don't forget to let me know what you think.  Toodles!

Daily 5 Work on Words... and freebies!

Ok it is all kinds of embarrassing that it has taken me this long to blog about my Work on Words setup and activities.  My BFF Marisa over at Glitter and Giggles linked me up Saturday and here I am just now posting.  Shame on me!  However, I wanted my pics to be a little better so I had to take them all over again ( and I still hate them). 

First of all implementing the Daily 5 has been the best decision I have made in my entire teaching career thus far.  Spending hours upon hours every 2 weeks (which is what I used to do) to prepare for stations has been replaced with quality engaging activities that are relevant and VERY low maintenance.  Not to mention my thirdsters LOVE that they get to be all grown-up and CHOOSE which activity they want to do for the day. I haven't posted many pics of my classroom yet so I want to start by showing a snapshot of my Daily 5/CAFE board.

This huge bulletin board is the focal point of my classroom so I decided to make it my Daily 5/CAFE board all in one.  Easy to see and access.  The kids move their clothespin to show their choice for each round on a mini clip-chart.  This makes it super easy for me to see when they are avoiding (as if they ever do that!) Work on Writing haha!

My Work on Words set-up is nothing fancy but here it is.  It sits right below my leveled classroom library.  My kids currently have 7 choices for word activities. 

• Scrabble Spelling
• Magnet Words
• Type-it
• Stamp-it
• Game Boards
• Boggle
• Shake It Up!

My students each have a word ring that contains spelling words, word wall words, and content vocabulary (differentiated according to their needs) that they use with each activity.  This is the lifeline of Work on Words in my opinion!

Scrabble- so simple and they never get tired of it.  I created a recording sheet for this activity.  It's an easy way for me to hold them accountable for their work. You can grab the recording sheet  HERE!
Just pick up some tiles and you are set!

Magnet Words- I thought that this would be way too young for my 3rd graders but they seem to still love building the words on the cookie sheets.  That's good enough for me.  I have them build the word and then record it in their Work on Words journal (a spiral).

Type-it is one that they race for.  I just took an old keyboard and fancied it up with cutesy stickers.  They "type" their words.  I get a kick out of watching them do this.  Some of my girls take it so seriously and act like they are at the office. 

Stamp-it- definitely not a new idea but again they seem to love it.  I have them stamp the words in their journals and then write a sentence using the word. 

Game Boards- For this fab activity head over to First Grade Glitter and Giggles and read all about.  Serious cuteness factor!

Boggle- This is by far the most popular in my room.  I got this amazing activity from Create-Teach-Share and my kids go bananas for it.  I just change the letters weekly to reflect our spelling pattern focus and they go on a word making frenzy.  LOVE it!

The newest addition is Shake It Up! I have always loved Discovery Bottles and just never got around to making any... until I was reminded on Pinterest (oh how I love thee) of how much fun they can be.  Here is the PIN by the way!
I found the jar and the poms at Dollar Tree (where I also finally found the materials I needed for my Pinterest Cake Stands I have been dying to make... which has absolutely nothing to do with this here post...sorry!) I printed up the 3rd grade Fry words (required for our district) added a fancy label and... Voila!

They find the words, read them, and record them in their journal.  When they find all 100 words they get a prize.  There is a whole lotta shaking going on let me tell you! 














There you have it- this is what goes down during Daily 5 Work on Words in my classroom.  I hope you find some of these activities useful.  I am always on the look out for new ideas and am so stinkin' addicted to blog stalking that I sometimes forget to blog myself.  Next up is a blog devoted to Math Workstations and how we roll with that in my room.  Fun, Fun, Fun!!
Thanks for stopping by! Toodles!