Saturday, March 10, 2012

Book Recommendation Tree

Happy Saturday! 
I hope you all are having a fabulous weekend!
 I wanted to share our book recommendation tree because my kiddos LOVE it!
It is bright and colorful (just like the rest of my room!) and the kids are constantly using it to write down book recommendations for their peers and to look at what new books have been recommended!


My AMAZING friend Amanda is the one who gave me the inspiration for this project. We taught together last year, but then our school closed down and we are now working at different schools. Lame! I miss her so much, but we still get together all the time to catch up and share new ideas!

Here is the book recommendation tree she made for her classroom, with super cute scrapbook paper and animal die cuts!


To make mine I bought a clay pot from Michaels, and painted the bottom of it with chalkboard paint and the top rim with acrylic paint. 
Then I used a branch that Amanda gave me and spray painted it with glitter spray paint.
After the pot was dry, I filled it with clear, flat marbles (is there another name for those?).
These are the tags that I used for the tree. I printed them out, glued them back-to-back, and then laminated them. I love, love, LOVE Erin Bradley's designs! They are adorable and super colorful! She has lots of other tags that you could use as well if you wanted to do something similar. 

The kids write on the tags with dry erase markers and then just use a wet wipe to clean it off when they want to write a new book recommendation! 
Here are some more pics of our lovely tree:











28 comments:

  1. I am so loving this idea!!!!!! Might have to be making a tree over spring break:) Thanks for sharing!!!

    4th Grade Frolics

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  2. So I saw this Pinned on Pinterest {Thanks Tara!} and I was admiring the tree & idea, and then I saw my Dr. Seuss Foldables hanging in the background :) You made my day! I'm your newest follower!

    ❤ Mor Zrihen from...
    A Teacher's Treasure
    Teaching Treasures Shop

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  3. Question.....they use dry erase markers right and then you just wipe them off and redo???

    4th Grade Frolics

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  4. Thanks so much Tara! And yes, I have dry erase markers that they use and then whenever they finish a new book that they want to write down then just wipe off their old recommendation and write down a new one!

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  5. Molly- So glad you found me so that I could find you! I am looooovin this lil book recommendation tree! We do book recommendations in my classroom as well, but this is just too precious! Thanks!

    -Krista
    The Second Grade Superkids

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  6. Hi Molly, just discovered your blog and wanted to say it is great. I love all the ideas you've posted so far. I'm a fourth grade teacher too so I'll definitely be stalking your blog to see what inspirations you are sharing.
    I hope you are enjoying blogging so far; I haven't taken the plunge into creating my own blog yet but maybe one day.

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  7. Thanks for sharing! I'm so TOTALLY doing this with my class. I LOVE it!

    Krista
    stellar-students

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  8. Awesome, beautiful, colorful - love it.
    ❤Traci❤
    Dragonflies in First

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  9. Love it! I am going to pin this idea right now!

    Andrea
    One Teacher's Take

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  10. I love this idea!! Too cute! Love how colorful and fun it is! Thanks for sharing! :)

    3rd Grade Times

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  11. This is a wonderful idea Molly! I am currently perusing all of your blog posts and I am your newest follower!

    lou

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  12. Your tree is super cute! I've been thinking of incorporating a book recommendation system in my class so this definitely helps. :)

    Marvelous Multiagers!

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  13. Molly! So glad you found my blog so that I could find your blog! I am your newest follower and so looking forward to seeing great new ideas like this!

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  14. Omg! This is too cute! What a neat idea. I can't wait to check out more of your blog. New follower:) come check mine out for math ideas!

    Sarah
    funintitlemath.blogspot.com

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  15. I am SO doing this with my kids! I love your blog and am giving you an award (you most likely already have). Click on the link to read all about it!

    Teach~Play~Smile

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  16. Go check out my blog for the award I...well awarded you!

    www.classyconfessions.blogspot.com

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  17. I absolutely LOVE this idea!! Thank you for sharing!!

    Tammy
    Confessions of a Fourth Grade Teacher

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  18. I LOVE your tree! Very inspirational - and adorable :) I am your newest follower!

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  19. Good GOlly Miss Molly! LOL! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog and this idea! I just pinned your contest and pinned this idea too!
    It's good to see another 4th Grade Teacher Blog!
    ~Lorraine
    Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies
    rainee2011@gmail.com

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  20. Love this idea! This might be a great idea instead of the book sales we did this year. This would be simple, yet effective. Thanks for sharing! If you want to learn more about the book sales we did, you can check it out here - http://hojosteacherstore.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20Sale

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  21. i LOVE this!!!! thanks for the idea :)

    Kaitlin

    beyondteachings.blogspot.com

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  22. I just found your blog and love this idea! What size did you make your book tags, so that there was enough room for the kids to write on them? Thanks!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!! The tags are about 3 1/2 inches, which is plenty of space for them to write, especially since they can use the front and back!

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  23. I'm trying the Spray Glitter for library sticks and it's not looking anything like yours. Did you paint them first? slupej@mustangps.org

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  24. Where did you find the tree? Or do you know where you could buy one?

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