Reuse - Repurpose - Recycle

I am a firm believer in reusing, repurposing, and recycling whenever possible.  Not only does it help the environment, but it helps to stretch my teaching dollar!  I snapped a few pictures today of a few of my "RE's" to share.  If you have any interesting ways to "RE" something, please comment below.  I'd like to learn some other ways to use free or cheap stuff!

I admit it - I am a container junkie.  This cabinet holds a variety of containers: drink mix canisters, plastic bowls from noodle entrees, cups, coffee filters, and some little black foam plates that I have been using for years as "trays" to hold sequins, pompons, and other small craft supplies.

A wipes container makes a perfect paint brush holder.

My secret "hoard."  I purchase mushrooms every week and had always tossed the blue tubs into the recycling bin until one day I realized that they make wonderful little corrals for lots of materials.  (And the beauty of them is that if they get ruined I know that I will get a new one every week!)

A mushroom tub in use.  The blue rectangle beneath it is a piece of craft foam left over from a long-ago craft project.

If you know anyone with a baby ask her to save Gerber babyfood containers.  These little plastic boxes are good for many applications.  Here is the die from my Pots of Gold skip counting freebie.  I have also used these containers to "prepackage" small art supplies, and to dole out small manipulatives.  The lids snap on securely, so they are portable!

TV dinner trays make super sorting trays.  This bin is from my Math Center.

 

 This photo is elsewhere in my blog, but I thought I'd include it to show a use for the wonderfully versitile dish tub.

Glitter Station.  We use lots of glitter in our projects, and needed a way to keep it under control.  (After a particularly messy crafting session one of my students worried about what the custodian would think about the glitter on the floor.  Another student reassured her that our custodian might think that it was just another Christmas decoration!)  Anyway, a lid from copy paper box fitted with a large piece of construction paper makes a perfect glitter station.  The glitter is in a lunchbox apple sauce bowl.  Students place their project into the lid and glitter away.  Simply lift the paper out to funnel the excess glitter back into the cup

Cereal box template.

 

 These are the abacuses from my Skip Counting by twos activity.  I made them from the backing of a used up pad of chart paper.

Egg carton ten frames.  Simply cut off two egg cups to create a ten frame that can hold a multitude of objects. 

                                             
Lids, lids, lids!  So many lids and so many uses.  These "live' in our Math Center for counting and sorting, but they are frequently called to duty to hold wiggle eyes or other small items for craft projects.  They also are great for holding a dab of Tacky Glue or a smidge of paint.

Cheapo plates from Walmart.  (Four plates for 50 cents!)  The raised sides make perfect trays for keeping manipulatives in place.

 

 Another Walmart end-of-season find.  I have two wonderful Pencil Parents who sharpen pencils for us at home.  What a time saver!  Every Friday I trade out dull work-weary pencils for nice pointy ones.  Students are also able to swap out pencils when needed because we have them everywhere!

I have to give a nod to Dr. Jean for this one.  Repurpose page protectors into wearable signs.  Depending upon what you put into them, you can practice word families, numbers, etc.

Livestock water trough, cookie sheets, non-working fishing rod, and garage sale TV stand create a fun magnet center.

Such a lovely table!  This past summer when my daughter was moving into her new appartment at college someone was moving out across the hall.  He offered her this parson's desk.  She didn't want it, but figured I would.  My hubby sawed off the legs to make it kindergarten height, and PRESTO!  a table for our Discovery Center! 

Another lovely table.  It came from my parents' basement and is now used as a "Skill Spot."  The great thing about Kinders is the fact that they don't care what furnature looks like!  They are happy to have little spaces to work.

On the table pictured above are two more repurposed items - a little trash can (new) and some plastic popcorn containers that hold foam popcorn shaped sight word cards.

Learning Center Materials

I stayed at school until 4:45 today!  I have needed to organize and clean up my Learning Center materials for some time, and decided to do it today.  I snapped a few pictures of some of the things that I have made over the years to share with you.

Bean Sticks to teach number sense.  I made these to help my students to understand numbers above ten.  They enjoyed the tactile quality of the shiny black beans, and counting out the "ones" provided small motor practice. 

Haunted Numbers.  Students chose a ghost, read the number, and counted out the appropriate number of "creatures" to place onto the house.  These materials can be used for a variety of number sense activities.  The creatures are little Halloween erasers from Target's Dollar Spot.

Super simple, and super popular.  This is something my students never seem to tire of.  All I did was write the numbers 1 - 10 onto sturdy paper plates to make this number sense activity.  I try to change out the manipulatives to match the season.  I found the little heart erasers at Target.  (You will need 55 items total for ten plates.)

Paint stirring stick flowers.  I found the flowers on The Mailbox's website, glued them onto paint sticks (free from Walmart), and cut out 55 foam leaves.  Students enjoy arranging the flowers in order and putting the appropriate number of leaves onto each stem.

Another super easy thing to make that packs a lot of appeal.  These toothy aligators are pages from a shaped note pad.  I wrote short a word families on them (there actually many more than this), and laminated them for duribility.  These are in one of my Skill Tubs, and my students enjoy reading and sorting the words.  The themed papers (I have many different sets) make word reading practice fun!

Another freebie from the paint department!  Paint chips are free, plentiful, and colorful!  These word family cards are inluded in a couple of my skill tubs.  Students simply move the large card down the multicolored card to make words.  (The single color cards were perforated with the perfect little circle - I just punched them out to make a window.)

I tried to color code the cards to help the kids figure out which cards go together.  Additionally, I wrote the word family on the backs of the letter strips.

Sentence practice pocket chart.  This repurposed table pocket chart holds cut up sentence strips.  My Kinders enjoy making and reading these color coded sentences.

Caterpillar sentences!  Simply cut circles from different colors of construction paper (one color per sentence), draw a cute face on one of the circles.  Students arrange the circles to make a sentence.  They can write their sentences in their journals.  Click below for a freebie to make this activity.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-Zg8ty5Slq9azY2WEdTOFRSOUNtVGhNRnhuMHRuZw

Skill Totes

When I want my students to work in pairs or small groups on the same skill, I use "Skill Totes."  I really like to have my Kinders work in pair or small groups and needed a way to get the materials into their hands quickly and efficiently.  These totes are from Michaels ($2.00 each - bought with my Box Top money).  I used them today to pass out materials for Activity 3 from my Pots of Gold freebie.

Skill Totes are stored on a ring that is hooked onto the Skill Tub storage shelf.

I took photos of the areas where students are to go when working with Skill Totes. 

Student pairs (usually the same Skills Partners - see Skill Tubs post) know where they are to work by simply looking at the attached picture tag.

Materials needed to work on Activity 3 of the Pots of Gold freebie.

 

 The "die shaker" is made from a Gerber baby food container.  It doesn't make rolling dice any quieter, but it does keep them from being flung across the room, rolling under tables, etc.

Skill Tubs

Skill Tubs are a much anticipated part of our 90 minute literacy block.  These tubs contain a variety of activities (many of them by Mailbox) that allow students to practice important skills with a partner or on their own.  I started using these last year in an attempt to utilize all of the wonderful activities and games I owned.  With a little training in how to work independently or with a partner my Kinders are able to use these tubs.  They love them, and are disappointed when something interrupts our schedule. 

Skills Partners pocket chart.  I use this chart to pair students for Skill Tubs and other partner work.  The duos change daily; the left side moves down, with the bottom name moving to the top, and the right side moves up, with the top name moving to the bottom.  This way the kids get a new partner each day, and by keeping the names in columns, I can keep students who can't/shouldn't work together apart.  The photos on the right side are of "Skill Spots" - spots around the room where students can go when finished with their work (or instead of their assigned Developmental Center if so desired).

I bought the wire storage unit and plastic dish tubs at Target.  Each Skill Tub holds 3 - 4 activities that students can do with a partner or alone.

Each tub is labelled with a photo and written instructions that guide student where to work.

A peek inside of one of our Skill Tubs.  This tub includes several activities from Mailbox, decodable readers from our reading series, and laminated shapes with sight words written on them.  (If something is laminated, you can write on it with a Sharpie marker.  Use rubbing alcohol to remove the ink.)

What would I do without Ziploc bags and clothespins?  I have found wooden clothespins to be a great way to keep things together.  My students are easily able to open and close them to attach bags of activity pieces to the correct work mat.

A word family activity from Mailbox.

I think this is from Carson Dellosa.

I put words from previous months into the Skill Tubs.  Students enjoy reading the seasonal words.  They also use these cards as a reference when writing.

Working on beginning sounds

Counting bugs and reading number words.

Shape sorting turkey activity from The Mailbox.