Five For Friday!

I am SO SO happy it is Friday!  I know it has been a shorter school week but I always feel like those are the weeks that feel the longest!  This is the first weekend we don't have any family or friends visiting and I look forward to being lazy ALL weekend long!  Because it is a fabulous Friday I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday linky party!

1. Bring on FALL!!!

I love the fall.  I think my favorite part is the weather and all the decorations I have!  I cannot wait to decorate my house for the first time for fall!  Sunday I spent some time making a new fall wreath.  For some reason I love making new wreaths and I am really excited about how this one came out.  I told my husband I was going to wait and put it out this coming weekend with the rest of my fall decorations but I just couldn't wait and I put it up Monday :)

2. ELMER

I LOVE the book Elmer by David McKee.  It has been around a long time but I still love to read it to my new students every year.  Just in case you haven't read it, the book is about a very colorful elephant who tries to paint himself gray.  When he does all his elephants friends are sad because they don't know where there friend Elmer went.  The book is great to read to primary grades because it about how everyone is different yet everyone can be friends no matter what!  I always love to have my kids do an Elmer craft once we read the book and this year I decided to do a paper tear craft.  My students did an awesome job on their elephants and I love how they came out.  If you are interested in the craft I included everything you need for it in my Ultimate Back to School Bundle on TPT!  Head on over and check it out!

3. Hootie and the Blowfish

Who doesn't love a little Hootie or Darius Rucker?!?  I love both of them!!!  Because Darius is from Charleston, SC he comes back once a year with his band Hootie and the Blowfish and they put on an amazing concert which raises money and collects school supplies for our school district!  The concert is a two day event and myself, my husband, and his family go every year! This past weekend we went to his concert and it was even better then last year!  I have to say this is my all time favorite concert and I don't think I will ever get sick of going!  I am always sad when it is over because that means I have to wait an entire year to see them again!  

4. Letter of the Week

This summer I spent a lot of time making a letter of the week unit for my TPT store and for myself to use in my classroom.  Now that I have started teaching a letter each week I have been able to start using the bundle.  It has been such a time saver and I keep asking myself why I didn't make the bundle earlier!  It is so nice having 6 printables for each letter!  I have been able to use them for morning work and homework.  It is such a time saver and anything that saves me some time makes me a very happy teacher!!! My kids love the printables and it's great seeing them stay on task and focused while working on them each morning!

5. Behavior Elephants

Over the past few years I have tried so many different behavior systems.  Each year they always sound great but once I start using them I realize I am not happy with it!  This year I tried something new and made each one of my students their own elephant that has 4 stars that are Velcroed on.  Each time a student receives a warning they lose a star.  I finally found a behavior plan that works!!! It is such a relief to have a behavior plan that my students care about and don't ignore. I feel like it really helps that each student has their own elephant with their own stars that they have to remove if they are bad.  I love how the elephants look and I love even more how well my students have responded to them!!!

Make sure to head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to see what everyone else is up to on the fabulous Friday!