Some Fluff For Ya

Y'all know I like my teacher stuff.  I post about Socratic Seminars, RTI, products for interventions and classroom use, how to teach poetry, and lots of really good stuff.  But do I love the fluff.  It's this time of year that the fluff comes out and I can't resist it.  Target is my source for the cheap fluff.  I buy there every year.  I bought all my book boxes there a couple of years ago.  They have held up really well (none broken).  The ones from Lakeshore, etc... are great, but way more expensive.

It made me happy today to see that Target has already displayed some of their teachery $1/$3 stuff!!

It's the fluff that dreams are made of.

"You know I'm all about that fluff,
bout that fluff, from Target...
I'm bringin' turquoise back!"

No, I haven't been drinking.

I write a serious blog here about important teacher stuff.

I gotta say that turquoise makes me happy!!!!  And no, I'm not ashamed to do a cell phone photo shoot right in the middle of the Target Dollar Spot.

Here is my haul today -

 

My first favorite find was wipe-off word strips.  They are laminated lime green and turquoise (looks baby blue and yellow, but that's just my phone camera, I think).

Purpose:  I won't use these as wipe-off.  I plan to put vocabulary words on them from all of my authentic text books, so that it's handy when I do a new read-aloud or book study. (AND there are 30 strips in there!) 

 

Small pocket chart to go with the word strips.  I have one already, but I thought I might use two.  I don't know why. It's a dollar.

Purpose: To post the vocabulary words from the story I'm using that day.

 

Cute turquoise tote containers. 

Purpose: I like to store scissors, glue, etc...in these on my shelves.  

 

Small orange polka dot/turquoise bowl.  

Purpose:  Paperclips.  I like the wide opening for grabbing what I need, plus I love the orange!

 

Wipe-off board of the United States.

Purpose:  I actually put these in my Daily 5 stations toward the end of the week.  My kids love to go to my big map (which is a shower curtain from Target hung on the wall...see post {HERE})  They love to locate the states and write the postal codes or mark the capitals.  They have held up really well, but I bought a couple more. 

 

I've saved the best for last.  This is the best deal in the whole dollar section.  These are blank books.

Purpose:  Inspire the students to write about something wonderful.  Have them plan alone or in groups of two to write a book. My students always write an adventure story about our two guinea pigs, Oreo and Harley.  You get 8 medium sized books, 3 bigger books, or 3 smaller hard-bound books for $3. 

Link to previous post on books: {HERE}  

Maybe they will have something really fun and new this year.  There are already some favorites out that they have every year.  I keep checking to see what's new.  I'm obsessed with Target, I guess.  They don't appreciate me, though.  They don't even say hello when I walk in the door, and I spend half my paycheck there.  

Cool Stuff for $1

     Thanks to Stephanie @ www.thirdgradethoughts.com, I went to Target today to look for some of the flashcards she mentioned the other day.  I found some cool stuff to start the year off!  I found the cutest chalkboard stickers for my team!  I thought we could use them outside our doors (we change classes for our LA block, so we have different kids coming to our rooms, trying to remember what they need to bring.)   I wrote on them already, but they erase great with a damp cloth (tried it.) There were even some stickers that were speech bubble shapes! So cute. I used an Expo Brightsticks pen to write on them.  I love these pens, and I use them on the regular chalkboard to write things that I want to keep on the board all year.  They don't erase when you wipe over them with the regular eraser and come in five colors.  You have to use a wet wipe or two to get it off the chalkboard, but it works great and the colors are good. 

www.lovsthirdgrade.blogspot.com

www.lovesthirdgrade.blogspot.com

I also found  flashcards  ($1) that Stephanie mentioned along with some wipe-off books ($1), which I promptly cut apart to fit into my plastic file holders for my centers.  There were also some wipe-off flashcards, and of course I had to grab some more of the little dry erase markers (4/$1) and erasers.  

www.lovesthirdgrade.blogspot.com

 Social Studies

      Ok, now for a social studies connection...We all know there are things that our kids should know, things we don't directly teach on a regular basis because of time constraints.  For older elementary kids to know the 50 states and their locations is just a "given," right??  I believe that we have to teach and review these things and not just assume they will get it down the road.  Consider this a preteaching activity!  Geography and maps seem to get a little lost sometimes, at least in our curriculum.  I love maps and coloring them.  I love map colors!  Weird, I know.  The kids in our district learn their states and capitols in 5th grade and up.  A little center where they get a head start couldn't hurt. 

www.lovsthirdgrade.blogspot.com

See? I just justified my purchase, much like I do when I buy clothes I don't need.  I found these wipe-off maps ($1) and flashcards on a different Target trip, but still very recently, so they should still have them.  I thought the kids could draw a card from the stack, read a little about it, use the card like a locator map, and label the board using the correct abbreviation.  They could also label the capitols.  It even has continents on the back of the board for more practice.  LOVE IT for $1!  
  
 Yea Target...again!