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!
