65-page FREEBIE and Rain Gutter Bookshelves

We're in week 3 of our six-week 6th Birthday celebration over at Teacher's Clubhouse!  Be sure to "follow" our TpT store to be notified of the freebies each week, and feel free to grab the image below to share our celebration with your blog readers!
 
This week's FREEBIE is a 65-page Short A Unit filled with games, centers, practice activities and assessments.  Head on over to grab it!
 {Click image to access this week's FREEBIE}

I always start the year in 2nd grade by reviewing those short vowels.  I'm always amazed that they don't have those down yet, so these are activities I'm excited to put into place at the beginning of next year.  If you enjoy the unit, we'll be adding them for the other short vowels for the 2013 school year.

Speaking of next school year.....today may be my first "official" day of summer, but I'm already thinking about ways to improve my classroom next year {you're with me, right?}

YEARS ago....I'm talking before interactive boards, I saw these amazing little rain gutter bookshelves online.  I thought....ooohhh....perfect!  I want those under my whiteboard.  You know - in that space that seems to just be a waste??  {See below the board in this pic I found}
Well, the hubs built me a low-standing bookshelf to go there instead, but I knew I still wanted to find a use for these neat little bookshelves in my room someday...which leads to my "Monday Made It."

DING! DING! DING!  I finally had a brainstorm that resulted in the perfect use for these!  I read A LOT of books aloud during a school day.  Many times those books are AR books that students can later take a test on to earn points toward their AR goals.  Since these books weren't read independently by students, they are not written in their reading folders.  This means that they often forget to take the tests or don't know how to spell the title to type the books into the system if they DO remember to take the tests.

Enter my cute little rain gutter bookshelves!  The perfect LITTLE space right above my computer table for adding the books we read aloud throughout a day/week.
Here is a link to the tutorial we {and by we, I mean my husband} used to create these.  It was very simple!  The rain gutters come in 10 ft sections at Lowe's.  I decided I want two 3 ft. shelves.  The hubs cut the gutter to length, added the end caps and braces.  He also spray painted them red to match my room {I may or may not add vinyl decor to spice them up a bit.}  Voila!  We used heavy duty velcro strips on all of the braces to attach the shelves to the wall. I'm very excited to have a place to display our read-alouds so that students can see the titles while on the computers.

19 comments

  1. Great shelves! I saw these on Pinterest too. I never though of doing it at school...might have to try it:)

    Middle School OCD

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  2. Thanks so much for sharing this! My husband and I built wooden book ledges about 10 years ago (very simple) to put under my whiteboard ledges, but I think these look even simpler! I must find a small piece of wall space in my classroom to try one of these (that's about all I have left...). :0) Have a great week!

    Sarah @ Hoots N' Hollers

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  3. It is amazing that those second graders still need so much review on those vowel sounds. That's how I start out my year in First Grade. It gets a little redundant, but we practice...practice...practice. Why are they so hard to master? Any who! Thanks for the freebie! It's a fabulous pack!

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  4. I love the rain gutter shelves! I want to try to make them for my daughter so we can put seasonal books on them or something. Just not sure where to put them or how hard it will be yet.
    Gina
    Third Grade Tidbits

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  5. LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! I came into a room with two sets of rain gutters close to the floor. They are the full 10 ft and it's so easy to sit reading buddies on there or any seasonal books that we're reading.

    Keri
    Enchanted Kinder Garden

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  6. I want rain gutter shelves in my kids playroom. As soon as I get the room painted that is my next project:)

    Heather
    The Busy Busy Hive

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  7. I love these! Very clever! I never knew velcro could hold stuff like that up! Good to know...now if I can twist my husband's arm...I have space behind my desk that is dying for some of these shelves!

    Amanda
    Collaboration Cuties

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  8. Love the rain gutters! Such a cute way to display books! What brand of Velcro did you use?

    Your new follower,

    Bria
    teachinginchaos.blogspot.com


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  9. I have rain gutter shelves in my room and I LOVE them too! I use one under my smartboard for our read alouds. That way, after I read the book, the students can read it when they finish a task early. I have another one, under my window. In this, I have students keep their independent reading books. I love that yours are painted! I wish I had painted mine!

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  10. Love those shelves! I'm going to have to add this to my growing list of things to do! Thanks for sharing!

    Karen
    An Apple a Day in First Grade

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  11. Love those shelves! My husband appreciates the shout out for Lowe's!!! Since he works there, I should be able to convince him to make these for me too right? I can't believe velcro holds them up!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  12. The shelves look terrific! I would love to have some in my room but we just went through a remodel and I'm not sure if I can put thing on the walls (ex. nails) Thanks for the freebie!

    Kelly
    I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

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  13. Love the shelf idea and especially the velcro tip since our school doesn't like things attached to the walls "permanently". Thanks for the freebies too!

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  14. I've had rain gutters under my whiteboard before and loved them. I've never thought of cutting them to make them smaller or painting them. Genious!

    Angie
    Teaching With Class

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  15. Love the idea of Rain Gutters for book shelves. I just my need to add another project to my summer list. Thanks for sharing.
    Tammy

    Mrs. Flickinger's Butterfly Oasis

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  16. I like your blog it contains lots of information for the roofers guide. Thanks for sharing.Liquid roof RV

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