Dollar Store Scores

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a super-fan of the dollar store.  It's the place where dreams come true.  I promise.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I've had the occasional lottery fantasy here and there.  In my fantasy, I've just won and I'm in my favorite department store.  I run past the racks, grabbing anything and everything I want with no regard for price!  So far in my life, my excursions to the dollar store are the closest thing to this fantasy coming to life.  

I love going in there knowing everything is going to be the same dirt cheap price.  As teachers, we are crafty and creative by nature.  We can turn everyday items that others perceive as "trash" into practical classroom tools and projects.  When I go to the dollar store I find myself taking a second and third look at everything they have to offer.  You never know, you may just find the most amazing and useful thing for your classroom in the home cleaning section.

On one of my recent treks to the dollar store I came across this gem.  This beauty was just laying there in the office/school supplies section waiting for me to scoop him up and take him to my classroom.  I bought several of them to put in my students' toolboxes and a few extras to have on hand.

Students with reading disabilities often benefit from enlarged print.  The problem that I have is that it is not always easy or convenient to get every single printed piece in large print for every single student.  Additionally, when I'm not with them in their general education classroom, their teachers may give them things to read with small print but they might be too shy or unaware to tell them that they are having a hard time reading.  

In my opinion, this magnifying reader is a winner across the board.  My students are able to use this when reading in my classroom AND I can give them one to take to their classroom for reading items in there.  

Us special education teachers tend to accumulate a variety of different tools and we want to give them out to our students.  The problem is...we don't always get them back.  Students, being the young children that they are, tend to lose things.  At the grand price of $1 I can afford to let them take one back to class and not have to do a count every day to make sure that I'm maintaining my supply.  

Here is a look at the reader that I found, I'm sure that there are many different options in each dollar store throughout the country.  Happy hunting!

Spring Cleaning

It's typically about this time of year that I start thinking about next year.  I start dreaming of how I want to rearrange my room and how I want to change my decorations.  I think it's because we are approaching the homestretch as far as the year goes.  It's there...I can see it just on the horizon.  We have a lot of changes going on at our school next year and I am so excited to revamp my room.  It's also this time of year that we special-education teachers can begin to feel as though we are hitting a wall.  

Even though we do evaluations all year long, the window between November and March tends to be the most packed for me.  Between back to back IEPs and benchmark assessments, we can begin to go a little nutty and feel as though we are losing control.  

I found myself browsing through motivational/inspirational posters during my break and I thought that next year I wanted to incorporate them into my decor.  And then the thought came to me, "Why not now?"

I decided that I could kill two birds with one stone by whipping up some posters and a banner for my room this weekend.  I'm happy to say that my room now has a fresh vibe and some new positivity spread throughout.  While the goal is that the words will be inspiring for my students, I know that they will be inspiring for the adults in the room as well.  

We all need inspiration from time to time which is why I put up the 8/5x11 posters for free in my TPT store.  I was able to find the quotes online by doing a google search for "inspirational educational quotes".  There were a MILLION great ones, but I limited it to four for now.  

On my way in to work today I stopped by the dollar store to pick up some frames to display them and, of course, the dollar store didn't disappoint.  These "Certificate of Achievement" frames are the perfect size for the 8.5x11 posters.
  

The Finished Product!

My favorite quote I found is by Margaret Fuller:

"Today a reader, tomorrow a leader"

This quote was screaming to me, "Make me into a banner!"  It was super easy to assemble and it looks amazing!  This one is for sale in my TPT store.

1) Lay flags face-up on top of backing to ensure that they are in the correct order.
2) Flip them over one at a time and tape the backing to the flag.
3) Continue down the line, making sure that they are evenly spaced apart.

Now it's time for me to take a deep breath and jump back in it tomorrow!!!

Spelling Strategies

Spelling is consistently the hardest thing for my kiddos.  Kids with dyslexia and other learning disabilities are known for this.  The battle for me is that I have 4 students working on the same spelling list, but they are all having trouble with achieving success for different reasons.  These reasons could range from typical dyslexia issues to attention issues to short term/long term recall issues.  

To tackle this problem I have developed a pretty successful routine for my students to practice their spelling every morning as a quick and quiet activity when they come in to start their day.  This involves several components, so bear with me.  I am lucky to have 1:1 iPads in my classroom which makes this much much easier.  If you don't have an iPad for each student but you have a few of them, this would be great as a center rotation.  If you don't have iPads at all, you can do the same activities with the students referencing a paper list.  Here's a preview of what my room looks like first thing in the morning with spelling all set up.

The reason I started using the iPads was because my students weren't always reading the words correctly as they were practicing.  When it came time for the spelling test I would say the word and they would look at me very confused because they had been saying a different word in their heads all week.  With the iPad I can record my voice saying each word so that they hear the correct pronunciation as the practice.

First, I use the Educreations app to create a slideshow tutorial of the weekly spelling list.  My one critique of the Educreations app is that when you insert a text box you only are allowed to use blue font.  This is not good for a special educators, we like to make different letters different colors.  My solution to this is to handwrite my words (consonants = blue, vowels = red).  The downfall of this, however, is that my handwriting is not good.  It's the best I can do for now.

After I make the presentation I go online (with my laptop) to the Educreations website.  From there I login and access my lesson.  There is an option to copy a direct link to the lesson.  Select and copy.

Next I go to QRStuff.com to create a QR code.  In all honesty, I googled "QR code generator" and this was the first one that came up.  It works great but I'm sure there are a million of options for this out there.  It's very easy, just paste your Educreations link into the "website URL" window and a QR code will pop up.  

Next, I copy the QR code and paste it into a word document.  You can then copy and paste to make as many as you need.  I do one for each student.  And.....PRINT!

That's truly the hardest part about this whole process.  Now the fun stuff!

After printing, I stick the QR code into a library sleeve that is secured to the side of their desks.  If you're going to do it this way, be sure to leave a long tab on one side of your QR code, otherwise it will not stick out of the sleeve properly.

I downloaded a template to make these sleeves for free from this website and printed it on colorful card stock.  And of course, after looking at them in pictures I decided they needed a little flair so I made some buttons to add to the front.  Available in my TPT store.

When students come in every morning, they know the drill:

1) Get iPads
2) Scan QR code to open lesson link
3) Practice spelling

The fun part is step 3.  I have several different options for them to practice their spelling.  Usually I have the option I want them to use already waiting for them on their desks.  Sometimes I let them choose which one they want.  Below are the options that I am using right now and after those are some options I have found online that I'm planning to incorporate.

Rainbow Writing - Students write each word and trace over it several times using a different color each time.  My spelling practice/test sheets are free downloads in my TPT store.  I found that my students took too long numbering their pages or would make mistakes and then have to start over.  This saves A LOT of time for everyone.  

Velcro Letters - Students pull letters from the top (extra letters on the back) to spell the words on the velcro strip.  My letters are from the dollar store with velcro dots added to the backs.

Sand Writing -  Students trace the words in sand on a sand tray. Side Note: My sand trays are lids to tupperware boxes.  They have a nice lip on them that keeps the sand in. 

Mom 2 Posh Lil Divas has 75 ways to practice spelling and they are all really good!  One of her ideas is to spell the words with play dough.

 

My next project is to make this play dough to use.  My mom made some for my niece using this recipe and she said it holds up great without drying out.   

Scribble Doodle and Draw has some great ideas, Im planning on implementing the paint in a ziploc baggie.

Happy Spelling!!!