Monday Made It: Bulletin board (finally!) and Partner Cards for groups

I 'm linking up with Tara for another Monday Made It because I finally got into school today, with the letters for my bulletin board which I forgot the last time I was there!  Ta da!

This is going to be one of the first things I do with my students.  I spend a lot of time going over what it looks and sounds like to Read to Self, what's in my classroom library and how to check out books.  After that, I grab a handful of books off my shelves and do some book talks to get kids interested in different genres, and to get familiar using their "Books I Want to Read" Sheets (part of the Reading Log, Wishlist, and Genre Study packet in my TpT store.)  Then I let students check out books and we begin our first Read to Self session.  When we finish, I'll have students create their own minions holding a sign for the book they've chosen.

 

I like having lots of ways to group my students for discussions.  One of the ways I like best is using paint chips like these. I laminate these, and then, as I'm greeting kids at the door I just hand them out.  They have no idea whether I'm picking the partner sort to be by color, number, letter or punctuation.  It's a great way to get them moving and I like that the grouping is random.

Okay, so I didn't make this.  A couple of weeks ago we were playing a board game with some neighbors and their kids and we couldn't find an egg timer.  In the box?  Nope.  In the house? Uh-uh.  And then, the next day, my husband came home with this.  He'd discovered it in a drawer in his office. What was it doing there?  I have no clue.  But I'm using it now!

I kind of made both of these.  The one on the left is ginger that I planted into a pot.  And the one on the right is a clementine seed that I planted a couple of years ago.  I love bringing plants like these into my classroom to show students that you can grow pretty much anything.







And that, folks, is all I've got for this week!  If you're back at school, I hope you're off to a good start!  Come link up with Tara and share your good ideas.