Schedule Cards

These are what I use to communicate the day's events.  I also made smaller cards to use with an individual student who has a difficult time with transitions. 

Schedule Cards 1

Schedule Cards 2

Schedule Cards 3

Marble Painting

This was a fun activity that my chickadees just loved!  Here is what you do:

Supplies: Paper, Paint, Marbles (or golf balls, or anyother type of hard ball) 



Place paper in a box top and add a few blobs of paint on the page. 

Give the students the box and have them move the marbles while keeping the box on the table.

 Have the kids keep on letting the marbles roll around until...

...they create a masterpiece!

Planning Sheets

These are my planning sheets for our days.  I put them into a binder and write important information for myself and any other person who needs to know what is happening in our classroom.  I will be adding more pages that will go into the binder later!  I have the links to these pages below...Enjoy!

Note Sheet
Example Daily Plan

Weather

I just finished creating these weather tags to use during our morning meetings.  Feel free to print, share, and use them!  Happy forcasting!

Weather Tags

Free Fonts

Free Fonts

Teacher friendly fonts that are fun and free!  Just follow this link to some downloadable fonts with all kinds of jazz.  Have fun with these for bulletin boards, letters to parents, student work, or just for your own fun!

ENJOY!

dafont.com

Writing Center

This is a great way to display different types of print for students to view in the writing center.  I love a print-rich environment that emerges young learners.  To create this piece you can make your own samples or you can pull ones straight from recipe books, personal grocery lists, poetry books, used post cards, etc.  Make sure the print samples are at the students eye level for easy viewing.

Lunch Count

Here is a fun way to track attendence and lunch count.  Label containers with the lunch choices and have kids put their 'lunch stick' in which choice they want to make.  

There are different types of sticks or ways to create personalized sticks.  The following are some neat ideas to try depending on your classroom age or your resources:

1. These are popsicle sticks shaped as people from Lakeshore.  They are on sale for $3.16/12 or $8.76/36. 

Jumbo People Sticks



2. Take pictures of the kids and put them on the tops of the popsicle sticks.  It would be a good idead to laminate the pictures and use a glue gun to attach them. This will just make them last longer.

3.  I found this idea on another blog (Cravings{The Journal}).  She made colorful people sticks with paint. 



Chair Folder Holders

My next project is to finish these chair folder holders for more classroom storage.  My previous cooperating teacher incorporated these and used them to store student work and to dictate the 'folder holder' which is the table leader who picks up papers and materials, cleans the table after snack, and for any other way to create classroom management.  I am making 4 of these convenient holders, one for each of my tables. 

The holders are simply fabric with a pocket on the top for holding it on the chair and a pocket on the bottom (facing away from the chair) for holding the folders.  I am not very crafty, but this is a simple sewing machine stitch that even the most amature crafter could do.

   
If you do not want to sew, you can find similar holders in educational stores.  For example, Lakeshore has a 'At-Your-Seat Star Student Sack' on sale for $7.77!  Instead of changing the name for each student, the students on the table can create a 'team' name, which creates a cooperative learning environment.


At-You-Seat Star Student Sack

Puzzle Organization

If there is one thing that I have learned, it is that young learners have a difficult time cleaning up puzzles or games with many pieces and putting them all in the same box!  The solution takes some time, but in the end you save hours of reordering misplaced puzzle pieces.  Just follow these steps to create a puzzle heaven.

1. Buy see through containers to store puzzles.  These containers are from Target for $11.99 for a pack of 6.

Sterilite Small Clip Box Set of 6

2. Label each puzzle and puzzle piece with a different number, symbol, or letter.  This allows students to know what pieces go to what box.

3. Cut the picture of the puzzle or game from the original box and tape it on the inside of the plastic container facing the outside front.

4. Label the box with the same letter, symbol or number as puzzle and tape it on the same side as the picture.

5. Enjoy the organization!

Great Deal!

I have been searching high and low for dry erase boards that are not too expensive or heavy, and I have finally spotted the perfect ones.  Many people have told me to go to a home improvement store and buy a big sheet of tile board and cut into smaller boards, but I do not have the resources to cut it and some of those boards are really heavy for young learners to pass out to friends! 

These boards are available at Target for around $1. That is right $1!  You can supply your classroom without breaking the bank and they are nice and light.  Another great thing about these boards is that they have one side that is blank and one side with lines.  This is great for differentiating lessons or using them for different tasks.

I look forward to using these throughout every subject.  For example, I could have students practice representing numbers 1-10 by drawing on the boards.  Also, students can join in on writing new letters and words in literacy or morning meetings.