A Name On EVERY Paper Guaranteed

How do I get EVERY child to write their name on their paper?

These are tropical fruit scents.

It's easy.  I use scented lip gloss.  Well, not on lips.  This is how it works:

You, or an aide or volunteer, walks around the classroom with scented lip gloss.

If you see a student's name written neatly on the line (no flying letters allowed), you rub a tine dot of scented lip gloss on the back of their hand.  We call it a "smelly spot" and you get one if you have a name on your paper by a certain time.  

I also love how it goes great with our 5 Senses unit.  The kids love it and will hurry to their tables and write their names just to get a smelly spot.  You can find them at the Dollar Store and I even saw some cute crayon-shaped ones at the Target Dollar Spot.  Have fun with this one.  

Check out my:

FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. (Tons of FREE ideas.)

PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  (Oh, the ideas on these boards!)

TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store (Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

And you might like my 5 Senses Writing Pack:

Click the image to see the writing pack.

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

Appreciate Your Office Staff With This Gift

Your Office Staff Will Love it:

So easy to make too.

This is quick and easy to make for any school office.  Here's how:

1.  Buy a frame and remove the back.

2.  Buy a can of black chalkboard paint and some chalk.

3.  Cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside the frame (or use the back of the frame) and, in a well-ventilated area, spray it with chalkboard paint.  Allow it to completely dry and apply a 2nd coat of paint.  Allow it to dry again and apply a 3rd coat of paint.  (See the can for complete details.)

4.  Once it is completely dry (at least overnight) use a piece of white chalk to write your message.  You can write your school's name or something like "Welcome" on it.  

5.  Carefully re-assemble the frame making sure not to smudge the paint.  

That's it!  You're all done.  It's ready to give to your office.

You might want to pin this one on Pinterest by clicking on the red "Pin" button.  

Check out my:

FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. (Tons of FREE ideas.)

PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  (Oh, the ideas on these boards!)

TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store (Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

My Students' Favorite Center AND A Give-Away :)

Easy, Peasy Environmental Print Center: 

This easy environmental print center has become a favorite in my class because my students can "read" the names of the cereals. 

You can always use healthier cereal.  These are the boxes my students brought in.  

Just cut up some cereal boxes and save the top of the boxes too.  Place the front panel from each box and the top flap from each box into a gallon size Zip-lock bag and you have a center.

Students match the box fronts to the box tops and have fun reading the names of the cereals.

AND...

I'm giving away a free product of your choice on my Facebook page.

Check it out here:

FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. 

Tons of free ideas on my Pinterest boards:

PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  

(Oh, the ideas on these boards!)

TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store 

(Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

Another One Of My Favorite Things

There Was An Old Lady...

Do you have lots of these books?  So do I and the kids LoVe them too.  Here is something that will make these books come alive and reinforce sequencing skills with your little ones.

There was an old lady who swallowed a....

1.  I make color copies on white card stock of all of the parts the old lady eats.

2.  I number them on the back so I know the order they should go in.

3.  I laminate them so they last for years. 

4.  I buy a clothespin bag (the ones that come with a little hanger inside) and decorate it to look like the old woman.  I found this one at The Dollar Store many years ago.  Use any decorations, pom-poms, lace, etc.  Just use a glue gun and secure them in place.  

Then, as you read the story, just have the kids come up and place the parts into her big mouth in the correct order.  The fun part is if the story says she sneezed or burped up all the things she ate and you can pour them out of the bag.  

Storage tip:  I keep the parts for each story in their own sandwich size zipper bag labeled with the name of the story.  All of the bags fit in the clothespin bag.  I hang the clothespin bag up on a hook and all of the parts are there in one place when I need them.  

Hope you liked today's tip.

(Can you tell that school has started and I can't post as often?  

It's back to my 10-12 hour days at school.)

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

It's A HUGE Back-to-School Sale = 28% off Just For You

Time To Clean Out Your TPT Wishlist:

Click the image to see my sale.

Our entire TPT Store is 20% & you can combine that with TPT's bonus 10% off to give you a whopping savings of 28% off of your TPT purchases on Wednesday, August 20.

Just use the code BOOST.

But That's Not All, no that's not all:

We will continue the 20% sale on our TPT store until Saturday, August 23.  If you want the bonus 10% off you will want to complete your purchases on Aug. 20.  

It's a GREAT time to grab my 

"1st Day Comfort Note" for parents 

and my 

"Beginning of the Year Bundle". 

Click {HERE} for the 1st day note.

Click {Here} for the Beginning of the Year Bundle. 

Have FUN shopping.

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

Sir Paul McCartney Is One of My Favorite Things

Dodger Stadium Last Week:

Waiting for the show to begin.

He was AMAZING!  And getting to see him from the 6th row was spectacular!!!

I have been to too many McCartney concerts to count and I have always been amazed at what a great show he puts on.  If you EVER get a chance to see him live, do it.  You won't be disappointed.  I just got lucky and got the 6th row while ordering tickets online.  Sir Paul is definitely one of my favorite things!!!  In fact, one of my email addresses is palmacartney@gmail.com.  :o)

So What Does This Have To Do With Teaching?

Well, he did co-write a children's book.  It's called High In The Clouds and you can find it by clicking HERE.  It's more for 2nd - 4th grade.  

Check out my:

FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. (Tons of FREE ideas.)

PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  (Oh, the ideas on these boards!)

TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store (Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)

Palma's Favorite Things: My Crayon Organization Obsession

My name is Palma and I'm obsessed with organizing crayons!

It's true, what can I say.  I would spend hours after school checking crayon boxes to make sure everyone had all of the colors.  I've been known to stop everything and have every child hold up each crayon as I called out the color names to make sure every student had all of their crayons.  I obsessed about this until I came up with two solutions.

This template fits inside the jumbo crayon boxes.  The ones with the separate lids and the ones with the flap.

My 1st Solution:

For crayon boxes, I came up with two templates that fit perfectly inside the jumbo 8-count box and the small 8-count box.  (Scroll down for the FREE templates.)

Just cut them out and glue them into the crayon boxes.

Students match the colors of their crayons to the colors on the template and they instantly know which crayons they are missing so they can replace them from my "Extra Crayons" box.  

A well-used small box of 8 crayons.
The template fits inside.  Just glue it in.

My 2nd Solution:

You have probably seen this one on my blog before.  I use the popsicle molds to hold crayons on the tables.  It promotes sorting and there are always lots of crayons available at each table. 

This pop tray can hold 6-7 small crayons for 3-4 jumbo crayons in each section.

 Don't throw away the little popsicle holders that come with the molds.  They make great great counters, they can be used in your estimation jar, or you can tape numbers to half of them and sets of dots to the other half for matching.  

Always include a "reference jar" at your estimation center.
This one has 4 pop holders and says, "This is what 4 looks like."

So if you're as obsessed as I am about keeping your classroom crayons organized, you can pick up my templates FREE by clicking HERE.  Enjoy!  :)

Check out my:

FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. (Tons of FREE ideas.)

PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  (Oh, the ideas on these boards!)

TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store (Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

Check out more organization ideas by clicking HERE.

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)