It's about time, teachers, to share our ideas!
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
WRITING CENTER GRAFFITI WALL
It's about time, teachers,... that I admit I am a word collector. I {heart} words. I {heart} interesting phrases. Although I do not feel a need for an intervention, I will (gulp) admit that as a child I used to read the dictionary.
This love affair with words has continued throughout my adult life and I strive to share my passion with my students. That is what led me to create a graffiti wall in my writing center.
My graffiti wall is simply a bulletin board dedicated to posts of interesting words and phrases. Both the students and I can write words on strips of paper and post them on the board. At the beginning of the year, I demonstrate this by extracting words and phrases from our read-alouds to post on the board. Before long, my students are pointing out the words they find interesting. I invite them to copy them and post them on our graffiti wall. Students who "catch my fever" even bring phrases in from home.
I've forged an alliance with the computer teacher to further spur our graffiti. When he introduces fonts to my class, he uses some of our graffiti wall words. Using the SmartBoard, he gives our words "life" by applying cool fonts to them. You should hear the oo-s and ah-s! Naturally, there is a marked increase in graffiti after that lesson!
As a corollary to our graffiti wall, I have a "tired words" board. We put overworked words to bed and list alternatives on the foot board. I use a blackline picture, allowing a student to color and cut it out before adding it to the board.
This, too, gains momentum over time. Before the year is over, we have a dormitory of beds with tired words!
Both of these boards have improved my students' writing markedly. They are easy to accomplish and the payoff is huge. Try it. You'll like it.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Saturday, August 3, 2019
DOLCH WORDS for Your WORD WALL
If you use a WORD WALL, I have a new product for you -- DOLCH WORDS PK-3 WORD WALL CARDS. These cards include all 220 Dolch Words, as well as editable cards.
Each card shows the grade level in the lower left corner to help you organize the cards. Each grade level also has a different border.
Dolch Word Cards are currently available in 3 color schemes; red & black, green & black, and blue & green. More color combinations are coming! If you have a request for trim colors, just ask! I'll be happy to create for you.
The existing products will coordinate with my panda & TWEET decor products. However, no graphics are included on the cards. Thus, they can work with any classroom that sports those colors.
Related products:
Friday, August 2, 2019
BACK TO SCHOOL POETRY UNIT
Start the new school year with these fun poems and the many POSSIBILITIES for using them in your classroom. From allaying 1st day jitters to establishing rules & procedures for the year, these poems will get your students off to a great start!
Included are 12 poems. Each poem has a page of possibilities for using it in classroom instruction. This unit is NOT just about poetry! It includes suggestions for reading, writing, & math. The reading range is broad, making it appropriate to primary and intermediate grades, and differentiation is a snap. It is also CCSS aligned.
You may also like these back to school resources:
