Word Wall

Word Walls have been around for a long time. I have organized mine by quarter: Yellow is 1st Quarter, Green is 2nd, Blue is 3rd, and Red is 4th.

I made the cards and printed them on regular white paper. Then I cut around the letters and glued them onto colored cardstock. Finally, I laminated them. When I have to replace them, I won't laminate them. As you can see with some of them, the laminating makes a glare.

I put them up as the year goes on so that they are not overwhelmed at first. When I introduce the new set, I show a word flashcard and the kids have to point to it on the word wall to become familiar with where it is. 

The letters also serve as my handwriting alphabet and the pictures go with Saxon Phonics. 

I printed the letters and cut them out. Then I glued them on dessert size plates. I decided to hang them up high. I have them on rings also for kids to take to their seats when they need and one for me to use as flashcards during our reading time.

Purchase these Word Wall Headers and Editable Sight Words Here!

Positive Notes for Classroom Management and Behavior Incentives plus a FREEBIE!

I often have a fleeting thought at some point during the day that I should tell a parent about how well their child is doing at a particular skill or routine. And then something happens, and I forget when it comes to the end of the day. Here's the solution. 

 

These are positive notes I created to send home when students are caught being good. I keep a stack handy, and when a child needs a reward, I write their name on it and put it in their mailbox. 

I have had a tough class this year. However, some kids have made progress or have a good day after a string of bad ones, and I want to build them up and send some positive feedback. 

I have a student who throughout the school year has been getting into trouble. Finally this week, we had a breakthrough, and he's getting his work done and being kind on the playground. I pulled one of these out and gave it to him, intending for him to take it home. He asked for tape so he could put it on his desk! He was so proud. So of course I gave him a second one to take home. Headfirst win!

These come both on a full page and 4 to a page so you can choose how to print. Enter your students' names (or leave them blank) and fill in your own name and print! All ink-friendly so you can print on colored paper. 

Click the link to see them in my store!

Editable Positive Notes

and now for your FREEBIE!!!

Editable Parent Teacher Conference Notes Template

Table Labels

Who doesn't love a little competition? Table labels are a great way for your students to work together to earn points for their table. I also use them to dismiss students from the carpet to their tables. "Everyone at the 8:30 table can go back to their seats."

I change them up throughout the year depending on what we are studying. Students can earn clips for their table by:

• Everyone having their name on their paper.
• Everyone being done with their work on time.
• Clean floor under their table.
• Quietest table during a test.
• Everyone having clean desks.

Clips can be taken away for:

• Noisy tables.
• Shouting out answers.
• Messy floors.
• No name papers. 
• Arguing.
• Not taking care of supplies.

After a table reaches 10 clips, I reward the table and take the clips down to start over. At this time I usually move desks around to switch things up. Reward ideas:

• 5 extra minutes of recess.
• First table to receive snack.
• Treasure box.
• Be the teacher.
• First in line for lunch.
• Popcorn.
• Juice boxes.

Have fun!

Plants in the Classroom

Do you want to plant seeds with your students but it seems overwhelming? Here is my method that is easy and cheap!


List of things to purchase/collect:
Potting Soil
Large Bowl
Spoon
Clear Solo Cups
Cheap Seeds (quick germinating - see photo)
Popsicle Sticks
Thin Sharpie Marker
2 Trays

Step 1: Label the Popsicle Sticks with your students' names. Mine have numbers because all my students have a number.
Step 2: Open the Seed Pouches and empty the seeds into a Ziploc baggie placing the open pouch in too.
Step 3: Put the Potting Soil in the bowl. 
Step 4: Pass around the seeds in baggies so the students can examine them and decide which seeds they'd like to plant. 
Step 5: Have students fill their cups about 3/4 full with the soil and spoon. They can use the stick to make a hole, put in a few seeds, and then cover them up. Have the girls put their cups on one tray and the boys on another tray (for easier locating when watering) with the stick upright in the soil so that you can see whose is whose. Plant some extra cups with the remaining seeds for any cups that don't sprout.
Step 6: Tape the seed packets up so the students can remember what they chose to plant. 
















Step 7: Use a spray bottle to let the students water their plants each day. This prevents over-watering.

Happy Planting!

Puzzle Storage

My students love to do the dollar store puzzles but sometimes can't finish them before it is time to clean up. These trays from Dollar General fit a 24-piece or 48-piece puzzle and they stack for easy storage.

Owls

Are you doing a bird unit and need a quick cute craft? Here are owls that only take 3 paper plates, crayons, construction paper for beaks, and a 1/4 of a blank sheet for an owl fact. 

Step 1: Trace the horn outline on 1 plate for each owl.

Step 2: Color that plate and 2 additional plates for each owl (or you can do this after step 3).

Step 3: Cut 1 plate in half.

Step 4: Cut the horns on the first plate.

Step 5: Draw on a face and glue on a triangle for a beak.

Step 6: Staple the plates together.

Sight Word Password with FREEBIE

Having a password to enter the classroom is not a new idea. I have streamlined it a bit which makes it quick and easy.

As students enter the room in the morning, they are required to tell me the password. I made this out of a 5x7 frame and hung it with a 3M hook. The password is usually a current sight word or one that has been giving them trouble. Or it may be a word in the running record I am getting ready to give. I also put math terms or math problems on there.

When we are going through our sight words during reading time, the kids put their hands on their heads when we get to that word. That leads to lots of giggles!

I never remember to change it until after I have turned out the lights and locked my door. Since I'm carrying my bag and my lunch box and my coffee cup and whatever else I'm dragging home, I don't want to put everything down to go back in and grab a marker.  But I do need to change the password for the next day, so I grab the marker I have hanging by velcro up high where the students can't reach and write a new password. Ready for tomorrow!

Sight Word Password Freebie

with and without the panda :)

Math Word Wall

I'm sure you have a word wall but do you have a Math Word Wall? Teaching vocabulary in math is an important thing to do. Even though you think your students understand that add, addition, and addends are all related words, they may not. Having a math word wall as well as flashcards of terms is a great way to make sure your students know what you are talking about when you use those terms while teaching.

Here is my Math Word Wall. I change it depending on what we are currently studying.

 Here is a straight-on view.

Here are the cards printed 4 on a page (normally 2 on a page) that I have put on a ring to use as flashcards. 

If you are interested in this math word wall, 

Click HERE to see it in my store!

 

Click HERE to download the Sampler FREEBIE!

Focus Wall

What is a Focus Wall? I work in a first grade classroom in an impoverished area. Many of my students haven't even been out of the town we live in. Where do kids gain vocabulary? TV? Tablets? Most likely no. They gain it from life experiences. Since many of my students have not had a wealth of life experiences, it is part of my job to build vocabulary so that they can learn about things they have yet to experience.

If you're like me, you teach themes. Usually, they revolve around holidays or the weather/season. Right now we are getting ready for our trip to the local zoo so we have been studying the different types of animals: birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals so far. We are also getting ready to write our very own animal books. Having visuals for the animals I am introducing is probably the most powerful learning tool for my students.

How do you find things for your focus wall? I have a variety of sources. We get Scholastic News. I tend to save them up during the year and use them for the next year when they go with whatever theme I am teaching. Then I save the teacher copy or one of the student copies if I want something smaller and laminate it. I then save it to put on my focus wall when I teach that topic again.

I also use calendar pictures. I have a couple of friends who will save old calendars for me to cut up.

If I can't find what I am looking for, I go to google images. You can find pictures of almost anything and unless you are making something to sell, the images are free. I usually copy and paste them into a powerpoint file and add a caption to the photo.

So that's it. Cheap and easy. I save the pictures in a baggie with my other materials for that unit. It usually only takes me a minute or two to get them up and provide invaluable information to my firsties!

What is a Pictionary?

When I hear the word Pictionary, I automatically think of the game where you had to draw and your teammates had to guess what it was! Pictionaries are also an educational tool that can be used in the classroom to foster vocabulary development and writing skills. In a dictionary, you find definitions of words (i.e. diction = words). In a pictionary, you find pictures of words. 

This an example of a personal dictionary that can be at a writing center or put in a journal. 

This is an example of the pocket chart size words. They can be printed smaller for the desktop-size pocket charts. 

Pictionaries are a wonderful tool for both vocabulary and writing. Students can learn words associated with a topic of study with the pictures stimulating prior knowledge. The pictures can be a springboard for writing. Young authors may find it overwhelming to try to spell words they have just learned. With a pictionary, students can concentrate on their ideas and use words they might not have otherwise thought of or have been able to spell. Here of some examples of my pictionaries.

Here are some examples of how to use my pictionaries in a classroom:

This is a schedule pocket chart. I printed the cards smaller by using my printer's multipage printing option. I printed 2 sheets on a page. These cards can be used in a writing center. I have also used it to introduce vocabulary. The cards are nice because students can take them out to put them next to their paper when writing. 

Here is chart paper that I glued the cut-up pocket-size cards on to make a large poster. Just flip and the next unit's words are there for students to use. 

We read Many Kinds of Birds. Then I showed students the posters and we read the names of the birds and talked about where they live. We compared the pictures to those we had viewed in the book. Then students chose a bird that lives near us to write about. This was at the end of our bird unit so they already knew lots of facts about birds. We also looked up some of the eggs these birds lay on my phone. Love spontaneous curiosity! The paper they are using to write on here and below can be found in my Spring into Writing Unit. 

This student is using the poster cut up into cards on a ring. She is making a list of different kinds of dinosaurs. The ring was made with a zip tie. 

Another way to use the cards is for a memory game. For younger students, use fewer cards.

Finally, I use the cards as a write the room activity to introduce vocabulary. Kids love hunting around the classroom with their recording sheets on clipboards. 

Click here to be taken to the pictionary section of my TPT store!

Click here for a FREE Insects Pictionary.