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Monday, August 6, 2012

Monday Made It (decorate journals FREEBIE!!)

I just got back from our weekend long reunion!  Think...cabin in the boonies, pond with paddle boat, bonfire, games, fishing, corn on the cob, hot dogs, games, pot luck, bingo, raffles, and more games!  It was a little challenging in the rain but we still had so much fun.  The kids don't mind playing in the rain:)  

Here are a few things on my to-do list that I accomplished this week.  I am linking up again with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics!!

One idea I love is having the students decorate the covers of their writing journals.  I saw this idea on the Love 4th Grade blog.  So, of course I had to decorate my own as an example for the students.  I cut out images that represent me in some way and added a couple pictures of my family.  Then, I mod podged the cover.


Above the cover is wet and below it dries nice and clear.  I love this stuff!!  I cannot believe I just discovered it a month ago!!


I made this handout describing the decorating notebooks process with a sample picture of mine.  I am planning on giving some time to look for pictures from magazines during class but will assign students to finish gathering materials from home.  This handout will be nice to have students take home to show their parents what they need to look for and serve as a helpful reminder for the students too.

Click Here to get your editable copy of the document below for FREE from my TPT store!


Next, I glittered a bunch of clothespins (using mod podge, of course, with a coat of mod podge on top).


Then, I saw this idea on pinterest (see here).  I hot glued flat head thumbtacks on one side of the thumbtacks.


I tried them out at school on a bulletin board with sample student papers that I just put together with my owl theme.  I cut the letters out with my Cricut (storybook cartridge).  



I wish I could fit more papers on the bulletin board and I am not too confident about how well the clothespins will hold up.  I like to have students help me with my student work board (they LOVE putting up their work) but I think they will be a little rough with the clothespins.  We'll see...


The last item I accomplished was getting a better organized with some labels for these messy bins:(  Aren't they awful?  Embarrassing...


So, I didn't make these labels (but I did tape them on...haha!).  I got them from the wonderful Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts and her TPT store.  She was so awesome to work with and really helped me out with a question I had about adding my own labels for tangrams, hundred cubes, and flashcards (hey, I guess I DID make those...using her template:)

Much better... (they are on the counter because floors are not waxed yet:)

 I will leave you with a little picture of my little man helping Daddy mow the lawn on our HOT Saturday.  It happened to be mixed with my other pictures and makes me smile:)


Oh, and don't forget to checkout my 100 Follower Giveaway!! $25 Amazon giftcard!  Yahoo!  It ends 8/10.

12 comments:

  1. Wow! You've been busy!

    I love the glitter clothespins! And I definitely need to get myself a Cricut!

    Ashley @ Fierce in Fourth

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  2. Love your bulletin board! I am signing up for your giveaway now! By the way, I too have a 300 follower giveaway with lots of goodies! Come by and enter!
    Layla

    Fancy Free in Fourth

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  3. Something I have used for the past few years is to hang a clear thumbtack and then hang a binder clip onto that to hold the papers i need up... I will post a picture when I do my first classroom reveal soon!
    Michelle
    http://livelaughloveloop.blogspot.com/

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  4. I am a huge fan of the glitter clothespins!! So cute! :)
    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  5. I planned on doing something similar with spirals with my sixth graders. I am really hoping to do interactive math notebooks to emphasize the different ways of representing math. Once I figure out how many classes I have, I am going to make a notebook for each class to model note-taking and what to do on each side of the spiral. I'm definitely using your handout to a degree!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! I LOVE new followers. :) I am returning the favor.

    Ms. W
    Http://hootingaroundtheclassroom.blogspot.com/

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  6. My students have enjoyed decorating their journals for the past several years, but I have not thought of having them put mod podge over it. That would end the disappointment students have when their pictures fall off and get lost.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Kelly
    Teaching Fourth

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  7. Looks great! I LOVE those glittered clothespins!

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  8. Great idea about using Mod Podge on the journals! I will have to remember that!

    Dee
    Mrs. B's Nook

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  9. I've been wanting to have my students decorate the cover of their journals (we call them draftbooks) but wasn't sure how the glue situation would work out, so thank you so much for the freebie with directions! Now if only I can get my Mod Podge can to open... it glued itself shut!

    ~Sarah
    Write On, Fourth Grade!

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  10. Great projects! I have my students decorate their writing notebooks (also composition books). Last year, I covered it with clear contact paper. It held up well, but yours looks so nice with modge podge that I might just have to try it this year!

    I'm your newest follower!
    -Dani

    A Place to Thrive

    ReplyDelete