On Target for Next Year

Hello,

I'm into the double digits of followers!  Sadly, I'm not good enough at making stuff to have any freebies for people yet.  I'll see what I can come up with, though.

The other day I went to Target and visited the $1 area.  I found these:

Target Goodies

The bookmarks are self-explanatory, but the little koosh-like balls tickled my fancy.  Now I probably read this somewhere on the internet, because I don't think I come up with very many of my own completely original ideas.  I decided to get six different colors because I usually have six table groups.  And my small groups usually have six or fewer kids.  Now how are these little balls educational?  The kids can throw them at an answer written on a board, or on a mat with the answers that's just put on the floor.  I think it would be a fun way to review sight words, math facts, or any single answer item.

Another way of using them is to have the kids in teams.  Have a target on the floor.  The kid who throws theirs closest to the bullseye gets to answer the question.  This makes it so you can ask more complex questions that don't require a single answer.  Love those Higher Order Thinking Skills!

I can't wait to try this out next year!!!

Secondly, thanks to Heidi at Heidisongs, who posted on her facebook page my plea for help, I now have three volunteers to look over my spreadsheets!  I'll be working on finishing them up this week, but I have an ipad class for 2 days on Monday and Tuesday, so we'll see how things go.

Finally, and totally on a personal note, I went to a handbell conference a couple of weeks ago.  It was so much fun and I can't believe how much I learned!  I thought I would include some pictures of the pretty bells all laid out and ready to go before us pesky ringers messed them all up.

This is from the bass bell side.

This one is from the treble bell side, and it has chimes as well. 

For any of you who are curious, I play treble bells and am learning how to play "four in hand" which is really two bells in each hand criss-crossed like in the picture.

Thanks for reading!  Thanks for getting me to double digit followers!
Joell