Idea Comes to Life!

Friday, June 22, 2012 9 comments
Last summer I submitted an idea to Really Good Stuff. I seriously I have not thought much about it since. Until NOW!!! I received this letter and package today!! They put my idea into production and I can't even tell you how excited I am!!
 Here's the letter! Woo hoo! 
Here it is in the catalog! 
 Here it is in real life!

I am such a geek, but I really can't wait to tell my students about this process and show them the final product. So here is the backstory:

I attended the Reading and Writing Workshop at Columbia University last summer. The presenter suggested cutting clear Contact paper into strips so students could mark their own words in books. I love that, except clear contact paper is harder to find than you might think. I had the idea to put strips of regular highlighting tape on cards to give my first graders. It worked fine, but not great-and it was A LOT of work. So I submitted the idea to RGS when they ran one of their contests. It has been almost exactly one year. 
How to use these:
to mark word families
to mark punctuation
to mark compound words
to mark nouns and verbs (different colors)
to find certain letters
to find suffixes and prefixes
to mark important fact
to highlight a specific text feature
to mark confusing/exciting/scary parts
to mark the big idea
to mark an unknown word


I could go on and on! These are perfect size cards to slide into their just right bag (you could even cut them in half!) so students have ownership of them. They will be so excited after seeing you model how to use them! How much? $9.99. Come see for yourself! Click on the pic to visit Really Good Stuff!

I am feeling a giveaway coming really soon! Happy weekend!


Target Deals....Already!

Thursday, June 21, 2012 No comments
Target is dangerous any day, but back to school season is especially risky for teachers! But...it is still June, right? RIGHT?

I stumbled upon these today as they were clearing the dollar section for what appeared to be <gasp> back to school/off to college items! 

 
They are black line master/workbooks for a connect the dot game and hangman! Each page has four sets. I love it!! My kids love hangman with sight words, names, etc! The dot to dot game is great because they have to race to connect the dots without  going diagonally. Love it!

 Easy, fun, and great to be used again and again in a page protector! $1.00! How could I not get them? Right? RIGHT?

Have you found any goodies yet?

Fabulous Post It Note Holder~DIY!

Thursday, June 14, 2012 No comments
Hello lovely My Mommy Reads followers!  I am very excited to share a super easy (and cheap) tutorial with you today that you will have no excuse not to try! 


First, I would like to introduce myself.  My name is Jacinta and I have been blogging since Febraury at My Beauty Boxes where I show off all of the beauty subscriptions that I have (I have give or take 8 a month)!  I tell you which products are great and which ones I don't care so much about.  If you are a beauty girl, be sure to check it out!  I love blogging so much that I decided to start one that is more personal to me.  I teach and wanted a page where I can share ideas and feelings as well as meet others who have things in common with me as a person.  I just started Jacinta Stuck in the Middle this summer as one of the items on my Summer Bucket List

Ok, enough about me.  Are you ready to start the tutorial?  I promise you, once you have your materials, the project itself takes less than 10 minutes and is totally cute!  This is what you will be making:
Adorable, right? ;)

This is what you will need to gather

1. Scissors
2. Post It Notes
3. Scrapbook Paper
4. Embellishment for your frame
5. String or ribbon to tie your embellishment
6. Glue gun (optional)
7. Clear frame (This one came from Dollar Tree)

Oh, and don't forget a

Step 1: Remove the insert from the photo and lay it on top of the scrapbook paper.  This will be your guide for cutting the scrabook paper to fit in your frame.

I liked the cute cut of the edge of this paper, so I left it at the top before I cut.  You can also use decorative scissors to cut patterns in your paper if it is straight.

 Step 2: Insert your cut paper into the frame.

It will look like this.

Step 3: Don't be like me and forget to write on your tag!  I remembered after I attached it to the frame, but it was easy to just write on it there because the frame acted like a desk.  No picture for this since I forgot!  You can check out the finished product to see what my not-so-neatly-written tag states!

Step 4: Tie thread, cord, or ribbon around your embellishment.  Please note that there are THOUSANDS of ways to embellish the top of your frame.  This is just one easy suggestion. Get as creative as you want here!

Step 5: Line up your embellishement the way you want it.

Step 6: Bring the cord around to the front and loop it through the other hole (if you have a tag with two holes like mine) and bring the end to the back to tie.  If you want it to be stable, you can use some hot glue to attach the cord to the frame in the back.

Step 7: Turn the Post It Notes over and apply a strip of hot glue across the top of the note if you want a secure hold.  I opted not to use the glue since I used a small amount of notes and plan to switch them out frequently.  Another option can be using velcro.  It is really just a matter of personal preference.

Step 8: Attach the Post It Notes to the front and Voila!  You have a super adorable Post It Note frame for your desk.  I am going to make these for my co-workers as back to school gifts!


If you liked this tutorial and thought it was easy, you should check out my tutorial on making button magnets HERE!   



After Party

Monday, June 11, 2012 1 comment
Have I mentioned that T likes to party? We went to the Pirate Adventure Dinner Show while in Orlando and his favorite part was the after party. He obviously gets this from his father! :)

A few other partying instances....

I am seriously worried about our future!!!
 Disney, 2011-joined the parade!
 Friend's Wedding, 2011-hit the dance floor!
Mom's Eastern Star event 2010-trying to get A to dance with him!
He is seriously too cute....and that means trouble!



Reading on Vacation

Sunday, June 10, 2012 No comments
Do we read on vacation? Of course we do! 
 We read online!
We read to each other every chance we get!
What are you reading this summer?

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...