Wordless Wednesday: Focus Wall

Two posts in one day! Say what??? For this post I'm linking up to Miss DeCarbo at Sugar and Spice's Wordless Wednesday.

Certain things have to be cute in my classroom. Certain things have to match. I'm pretty sure there is a law.  This week I managed to start on matching sets for my focus wall, because I have been pulling resources from everywhere  this year (yay new series) and nothing matched. So matching focus wall pieces is my new hobby. 

What things in your classroom or life need to be cute or match to make you happy?

Storing Posters

I hate posters. I say that because I spent the last two years trying to figure out how to store the gigantic life sized monsters that take up space and frustrate me to no end.  I had a mass of posters that were all mixed together and rolled up.  At one point I put large clips on the edges to keep them together, but that failed miserably because they were different sizes.  I ended up still having to roll them and shove them into a top cabinet and pray I didn't need to switch them out.

Then the Bright Ideas Bloghop came to the rescue.  Teaching with a Mountain View did a great post on her adorable Anchor Chart Bin.  I have to admit I'm super jealous of her bin.  It would go perfectly with my polka dot classroom.  Unfortunately, I don't even have room for a bin, but I realized I have something almost as good, corner space between two shelves.  So I rolled my posters, used color-coded Avery labels and rubber bands, and stuck them in the corner.

It may seem like a huge amount of space devoted to my posters, but it is a small corner and it was completely wasted space before.  Now at least it serves a purpose.  Plus I know where my anchor charts are and I don't have to spread them all over just to find the one I need.  Love it! Big thanks to Teaching with a Mountain View for the fabulous tip!

Interactive Bulletin Boards

So I have become pretty much obsessed with the idea of interactive bulletin boards.  While I was decorating my classroom, I had big gaping holes on each of my bulletin boards.  I wasn't quite sure what to do with them, and I don't have a lot of anchor charts yet since its my first year.  I figure, what better way to make a bulletin board count than to have my kids help me decorate.  I put up sheets of paper on each bulletin board that will have a question for students to answer. 

Right now, my reading board has "Books We Love."  It's pretty self-explanatory, the kids just write the name of some of the great books they are reading.  I want to start simple so they feel comfortable putting their ideas and thoughts up for everyone to see. 

 

My math board has "Write an addition problem that equals 20.  _ + _ = 20."  My goal is that there are multiple answers and they keep looking for new answers, including using multiple addends (i.e. 3 + 3 + 14). Once they get comfortable, I definitely want to increase the level of the question and keep it on track with what we are talking about in the classroom.

The writing board question is, "What do writers write about?"  The goal is to get students thinking early about the different topics and connect that to all the topics that they can write about too.  I'm going to introduce it by having students discuss what the author is writing about in everything we read (including textbooks) so they have a huge variation.

I've also got a "Fun Facts" paper where they will be able to write down facts from the non-fiction book they read.  My requirement will also be that they write down the book name and the page number.

Finally there will be a class question board.  Right now it is asking what they enjoy about coming back to school.

Of course, each of these will be introduced whole group and we will add to them as a class. Then, the students should be able to interact with them as partners or individually.  My favorite part of this is that it can be a great tool for my fast finishers.  Instead of saying, "Ms. Birrer, I'm done," all I have to do is point to an interactive board and say, "Get to it!"  I know.  It's a dream. When do kids ever stop announcing they're done and they need something to do? ;)