Alphabet Chart

Hi friends! Y'all (that's my Bama coming out!) are A-MAZING!! I can't believe I am already up to 155 followers in 2 DAYS! WOW! Thanks for all of your love! :)

I am SUPER excited to say that I just got my reseller's license from Thistle Girl Designs! Woo hoo!! I have been obsessed with buying Ashley's graphics since 2007 and she is so creative and cute! Check her out!

The first item I will be sharing that I created with her designs is an Alphabet Chart. You can use this with Guided Reading groups, put it in your student's writing folders, or send it home as a home connection activity.  Click on the picture below to head over to my TpT store to download the Alphabet Chart...it is colorful and FREE! 

Be sure to click HERE to enter my giveaway for a $15 Target gift card...it ends July 5!


Coming up next... alphabet wall cards and alphabet flashcards to go along with the alphabet chart!

25 Followers Giveaway Time!!!

WHAAAAT??!!?? 25 Follwers!!!  I COULD NOT be more excited!! I did my first few posts (besides my welcome post) last night after talking with fabulous Jan at First Grade Honeybunch and Lauren at Just Add Clipart at a math workshop yesterday. I also followed some awesome teacher blogs before I went to bed! I woke up to 21 FOLLOWERS!!! I poked my husband in the arm and started screaming in his ear "Look, look, LOOK!!!" Poor guy...not a fun way to wake up! :)

I was about to post that I would do a giveaway at 25 followers and GUESS WHAT?!? In the past 5 minutes that I have been composing this post, I reached 25!!!! You guys could NOT be more awesome!

So...Castles and Crayons is having our first little giveaway! This is SO MUCH FUN! (I am so sorry if my caps letters scare you...I use them when I am excited...which is a lot! :) I will randomly pick the winner on July 5!

Here is what you need to do to enter my little ol' giveaway for a $15 gift card to Target (my FAVE store)!

1. Follow my blog (leave a comment) - 1 entry

2. Follow my TpT store (leave a comment) - 1 entry

3. Post about this giveaway on your blog (leave a comment) - 1 entry

Giveaway at First Grade Blue Skies

Check out this AWESOME giveaway for a Target or Amazon gift card (Oh, HOW could you choose???) from a fellow Bama blogger:

GOOD LUCK! :)

Organizational Take Home Binders

I. HEART. THESE. BINDERS. Parents love these binders! I have used these for several years now, and the original idea came from http://www.teachingheart.net/.  It is a great way to teach kiddos organization and it helps the parents keep everything for school in ONE spot and not scattered throughout the house! :)

When I taught Kindergarten and had a garden/bug classroom theme, I called them BEE (Bring Everything Everyday) Binders.  I have since moved up to first grade (and changed my theme, of course :) ,to jungle) and I now call my binders Jungle Books. :)  Check out Teaching Heart's site for OODLES of cute names to coordinate with your classroom theme or school mascot!
 Here are the components of my binder:

Front cover ~ I have the title of the binder, the child's name, my name, grade, and school.

Inside front pocket ~ Important Papers ~ This is where I send graded papers and school announcements home, and where I check for any paperwork from the parents.

Money Pouch ~ A zippered pouch for parents to send in lunch money, Scholastic book order money, field trip money, etc.

Planner ~ Our school uses planners for grades 1 - 5. The students write a message each day and they mark their behavior color on the calendar.

Communication ~ I put several sheets of notebook paper in this section to write notes back and forth to parents. It is great for LOTS of reasons: a note is not crumpled up in the bottom of the sweetheart's book bag AND it is FANTASTIC for documentation.  The notes stay in the binder for the entire year.

Newsletters ~ I hole punch and place all of my weekly newsletters behind this section. This is great for parents to reference throughout the year for sight words, etc.

Calendars ~ All calendars (school calendar, district calendar, lunch menus, Mystery Reader schedules, etc) go in this section.

ABC's of First Grade ~ Our team gives this to parents at Meet the Teacher. It is an alphabetized list of classroom and school policies. This is also wonderful for parents to reference later on in the school year.

Back Pocket ~ My students put their take home book in this pocket. My kiddos take a book home each night to read for homework. 

 Materials needed to make the binders ~
One inch binder with clear pocket front cover
Labels (I use 2" by 4")
Zippered money pouch (I order clear, plastic pouches from Office Depot)
Page protectors
Colored copy paper

Of course, you can modify any of this to fit your classroom and school! :) Let me know if you have any questions!

Welcome!

I am sooo excited to welcome you to Castles and Crayons! I have been blog stalking for quite some time and could not be more excited to join this fab blog world! I am a first grade teacher in Birmingham, Alabama who loves my hubby, crafting, monograms, and all things PINK! I can't WAIT to share my classroom happenings with you!

THANK YOU so much to Alicia with Dreamlike Magic Designs for my FABULOUS blog design. I love her designs...bright colors, polka dots, and damask, oh my! My custom design is everything I hoped for and more! Click on the button below to check out her precious Etsy store:

Stay tuned...my next post is about my Teachers Pay Teachers freebie! :)

My Freebie on TpT

Can you believe it is already the last week of June??? Summer is almost half way over??? I better get my booty IN GEAR! My to do list is loooong! :)
I wanted to share my freebie on TpT with you! I created a Marshmallow Measurement activity for the kiddos to explore non standard measurement with mini and regular size marshmallows! Click on the picture to check it out! While you are there, please follow my TpT store!





Coming up next...organizational take home binders!