This past year I put a Little Free Library outside my house. You can learn how to start your own LFL here. It has been one of the best things I have done for myself.  For myself, you ask?  Yes.  Absolutely.  

The library is located about a stone's throw from my living room window, right off a sidewalk on a corner street.



Even a simple bin like this is an easy and affordable way to have a LFL in your classroom.





If you have a larger singed classroom, a small doghouse or rabbit hutch can be found at antique stores, thrift shops or yard sales really cheap.

Years ago, I was on vacation in Key West, Florida when I saw a Little Free Library for the first time.

I was in love.

I didn't have a book on hand to donate but I took one from the library to enjoy on my vacation.

A Little Free Library is a "take a book, return a book" free book exchange.  The most common type is a wooden structure- bigger than a birdhouse but smaller than a dollhouse. The premise is that anyone may take a book or leave a book in the library. There is an understanding that the library is for the community. What I love about the concept most, is how it offers my favorite things in the world (except for dogs) which is books!  

I just adore how LFL's offer a unique, personal touch. You can design and build a Little Free Library to be as simple, unique, fancy, or outrageous as you like.  I especially like the ones that are inexpensive and made out with ingenuity.

Here are just a few of my favorites from Pinterest: 

 

As you can see by the choices above the only limit...is your imagination. Whether you use a wagon and wheel it in and out, an old newspaper bin, a rabbit hutch or a large mailbox- the options are limitless but they certainly don't need to be expensive. I've even seen one that was a converted small dorm fridge or a dog house.

I have a Little Free Library outside my home. I am not the LEAST bit handy so I bought my LFL on Amazon here.  When I bought it, it came with everything I needed and all I had to do was paint it, which I loved since it let me be creative!  I'm a single Mom so when I tell you it was super simple. I mean...It. Was. Super. Simple. I really liked being able to support the really nice guy who was starting his own own small business too by building them!  Win, win as far as I'm concerned.

Here's what it looked like:




I painted mine with outdoor paint with primer in it that I got from Michael's. My mother said it should have primer it in since it's outside and it's my Mom and she knows stuff so I did it. 

Once you decide you want to have a little free library, you can "make it official" by becoming a Little Free Library Steward.  By registering your LFL, you are given a plaque (like the one shown on my LFL below) with your own unique charter number. This charter number is only yours and it puts you on the map. Literally. Now people can find your library. The cost is $40.  I'm going to be honest here and tell you that I don't think this is an absolute necessity. However, if you're like me and you believe in the cause and want to support Little Free Libraries and their mission to promote literacy, you may want to contribute.  

The littlefreelibrary.org site has a ton of helpful hints, tips, free resources (including flyers, brochures, etc). They even have a store to purchase everything from from LFL's to stamps.  Though I'll caution you....Little Free Libraries (though well made on the site) cost a small fortune.

Most of my traffic to my LFL comes from my community, neighborhood, and from the Facebook page that I created for it.  I don't think people found it via the LFL map.  I made a flyer telling people about myself and the LFL and walked around to people's mailboxes the old-fashioned way, door to door.  Yup.  I did. I also posted about it on my personal Facebook page and my town's Facebook page. 


Anywhoose....Back to the decorating...


I used my Silhouette machine to make the lettering and windows.

Halloween is right around the corner and I have some great ideas for you for crafts, projects, activities, freebies and more!

Let's start with some cute crafts. I do a craft project every year on Halloween afternoon since most of the kiddos are beside themselves with excitement and are only listening to an eighth of what I say anyway....





Are you so tired or writing morning messages?  These October morning messages are projectable and editable.  All you have to turn is turn on your computer and your SMARTboard (or interactive whiteboard) and the whole month's worth of morning messages have been done for you. Best of all....they are editable, so you can type and project your own message and still use the adorable graphics if you like.

You can find October Morning Messages here.

 

Well folks, it's about that time. Perhaps for some, you are already back.

The first week of school....ahhh....it's exhilarating, it's fun, it's busy....and....it's downright exhausting.  

What am I going to do without my mid-morning nap? And my mid-afternoon nap?

Hopefully, I have some ideas for you to use here to ease that transition back.




I think setting the tone with Morning Meeting is the most important part of the day.  It is the one area of the day that I have more flexibility with and it a time for students and I to connect.

In following with a Responsive Classroom approach Morning Meeting in my classroom has 4 components:

  I keep greetings very low key at first, as students are still getting to know one another and the classroom rules. 

Therefore, physical contact is limited and is gradually built up, depending on what your class can handle.

Here are some ideas:

1. Name Game: Everyone sits in a circle. Start with your arms Criss-crossed arms to make an X across your shoulders and then uncross them and tap your thighs.  As students to repeat this motion.  Once mastered, start saying student names as you go around the circle "My name is Mrs. Pettersen, Mrs. Pettersen, Mrs. Pettersen. My name is Mrs. Pettersen and what's your name?"  The person to my right says his/her name and we repeat "His name is Justin, Justin, Justin. His name is Justin, Justin, Justin, etc.  This continues until everyone in the class has had a turn. The last person is the teacher "Her name is Sara, Sara, Sara. Her name is Sara and we're all here!"  The kinesthetic motion helps students to remember names.

2. Walk and Greet: Teachers says greets each student by walking up to each student (not in order) waving and smiling and making eye contact.  Ask students "What did you notice?" when you are done. You are looking for students to notice that you made eye contact, that you gave a friendly wave without touching and that you smiled. This exercise models for students how you expect them to greet one another for morning meeting. Tell them so.

3. Ball Roll: Roll a small ball to a student after you say good morning "Good morning, Sam."  Sam responds and I roll the ball to him. Then he rolls the ball to a student. It is important to review rules and expectations with the ball before beginning this activity.

4. Mirror, Mirror:  Greet a student with a motion and have them repeat that motion.  If you are silent, they are silent.  They then repeat the same motion to a classmate of their choice.

5. Mirror, Mirrored:  Play the same way as above, but this time the after the student mimics your motion, they make up their own motion for a classmate to follow. Greetings continue with each student making up their own greeting motions.

6. Hola!:  Greet one another in a different language. Instead of saying "Good morning, the teacher greets a student with a greeting in a different language such as "Hola, Lila". Lila then does the same with another classmate. Switch it up as the year goes on with different languages.

7. Round Robin: Model how to shake hands using the right hand and how to shake appropriately without hurting a classmate. Then do a "round robin" greet" where the teacher shakes hands with the person to the right of them, that person shakes hands with the person to the right of them and so on until everyone has been greeted.

8. Meet and Greet: Students pull a name from a hat and greet that student.

9. Guess Who: Using the info gained from the share activity below the teacher pulls a name from a hat (without letting students see the name). Give the students clues on whose name was pulled "This student likes to play soccer. She has 2 brothers and a dog."

10. Sing this song or chant it as a rhyme:  






Each student gets assigned a day (actually I assign 2-3 students per day) to share their bag and tell us about themselves.

This All About Me Paper Bag Activity is a FREEBIE in my store. You can grab it here.



During the remainder of the year, share time is a time when students can share something that they made or earned (such as an aware, trophy, etc) or an addition to their family (such as a new family member or pet).

If someone returns from a vacation, they can share their travel journal with us during Share time too.




1. Four Corners:  Designate 4 separate corners of your classroom. Choose one student volunteer to close his/her eyes. The remainder of the class will walk quietly to a corner.  The student with his/her closed chooses a corner number and any students in that corner are out and must come sit down.

2. Four Corners 2: Play the same as Four Corners except students go together to a corner based on your directions "Go to corner number 1 if you have a dog.  Go to corner number 2 if you have a cat. Go to corner number 3 if you have both a dog and a cat. Go to corner number 4 if you don't have a dog or a cat."

3. Sticky Numbers: One student is given a sticky note with a number written on it. He/She must ask her classmates questions about the number in order to guess it. Questions may be "Is it greater than 10? Is an even number?,etc?




4. Warm Winds:  Students sit in a circle. One students is the volunteer and asks a common attribute such as "A warm wind blows for anyone who likes pizza." Anyone who likes pizza must then get up and switch places with someone else. Last person standing is the next volunteer.

5. 7 Up: Played just like the traditional game. 7 people choose 7 people who are seated at a table with their heads down. Those7 people who are chosen try to guess who chose them. If guessed correctly, they can then be "it."

6. Back to School: Get to know staff in your school with these Back to School Trading Cards.  Give to staff ahead of time or place them in the mailbox. Take students on a tour and collect the cards as your tour. Kids just love collecting cards! They can learn who the staff members are, their names, and their job responsibilities at the same time!



7. Would you Rather: Kids LOVE "Would you rather?" games. You can do a few and then ask a student volunteer to do some.

8. Circle: Students sit in a circle. Send one student out of the room. Choose one student volunteer to be "it". This student makes a pattern of repeated motions. the remainder of the class copies the motions. Call the student who was sent out to come back in. This student now has to guess who is it.




I am so bad about writing morning messages.  As I'm making photocopies, catching up on who watched "The Bachelor" last night, setting out morning work, making sure I have work set for the parent volunteer I kept saying to myself "I need to write the morning message."

Well...9 times of of 10 the students were walking in and I was either