First Day of School Picture Frame

Hello fellow teachers :) For the first day of school this year, I made a cute picture frame for each student to take their photo in. I bought the frame from Michaels, painted it, sized and printed out my letters, glued, and voila! I think it turned out rather well, and am planning on using it next year too.

Classroom Mission Statements

Instead of boring old classroom rules (I know, I know, they are very important), why not try something new this year? Madame Belle Feuille wrote a great post about classroom Mission Statements. It was great to get the kids talking about what was important to them, and I was pretty amazed with what they came up with. The ending is more influenced by me, as I saw this on anther mission statement and thought it was so lovely. As a class, we are reciting our mission statement every morning to give us a little reminder about how we want to be and treat others in our learning community. Check out her post for some great discussion questions to get the kids started, or for more mission statement examples.

Friendship Tree

Hello readers,

Here's a simple activity to build community in the classroom. Sketch a tree with defined branches on large white paper. Set out ink pads and/or paint in shallow dishes. Have students come up one by one to put their index finger in one colour/ ink pad, and then place their fingerprint on the tree. Let it dry, and then display your classroom's friendship tree for the world to see.

We did this activity after reading a book about friendship and how to build positive relationships. My students really seemed to respond to the story, and doing this simple activity helped them to relate the book to their own lives.

How to Make DIY Chalkboard Clipboards

This summer, I had a lot of time to prep my classroom. I knew I had to do something about my old wooden clipboards. They were ratty and covered in scribbles. With the help of my SuperMom, I decided to give my old clipboards a makeover. I've seen some fantastic clipboard makeovers on Pinterest, but I decided to try something new. Wouldn't it be nice  if clipboards served a dual purpose - where kids could also take notes without paper? I purchased chalkboard paint to give it a try.

We first painted the boards with white primer. We then placed lines of painter's tape along the top and painted on several coats of chalkboard paint, following the can's instructions (beware - there's a lot of wait time on this project). Finally, we put a few strips of painter's tape along the top to add our bright colour.

 We could have taken out the clip hardware to be precise, but I don't think it was work all of that effort to be honest. I'm quite happy with the way that they turned out.
Note: Before using them, we have to prime the surface with chalk. I'll get the kids to rub chalk all along the black paint.

I think they turned out very nicely, but I think it would also have been very interesting if we had gone the Whiteboard marker route. I don't know about you guys, but I feel like kids seem to prefer whiteboard markers to chalk.

Let me know if you end up trying out your own version of these chalkboards!

Rangoli Art for Diwali

Rangoli Art for Diwali

Sand Art for Diwali, festival of lights. Cut out and paste each Rangoli design onto backing paper. Set out liquid glue and coloured sand. We used cue tips to apply the glue precisely, but small paintbrushes would work nicely as well. Students found this activity to be calming and very enjoyable.

How to make DIY Whisper Phones

Whisper Phones, or Phonics Phones, are a fantastic way for kids to practise reading. When reading quietly into the phone, they can hear themselves echoed back. This allows them to pay special attention to tone, pronunciation, pace and fluidity, especially when reading in a second language. These phones are easy to assemble.

You will need:
1) 3/4″ PVC pipe
2) 3/4″ elbow joints (2 elbow joints for each phone) you can also use 1/2“ PVC pipe and elbow joints if you prefer.
3) Optional: patterned or coloured duct tape

To make the phones, cut the long PVC pipe into 4”  inch sections. My school has a fabulous caretaker who was kind enough to do this for me. Then twist on an elbow joint onto the ends of the pipe. Lastly, wrap fun duct tape around the centre.

Originally, the feedback that I got from my kiddoes was that the phones were too long. It's easy enough to get them cut a little smaller to fit your students' heads, even if you've already assembled and wrapped them. Now that they are a perfect size for little heads, my kids use them frequently in my Read to Self centre. One little boy told me that it helps him to hear his own voice because he can fix mistakes and slow down his reading. Win! DIY 1: Expensive store-bought phonics phones 0!

Classroom Reveal 2015-2016

Welcome to my classroom!

This year, I chose to continue my cheerful circus theme. Here a few photos of the classroom. I haven't taken very clear photos of the whole classroom yet, so more to come.

Bulletin board in hallway. This is an idea that's currently making its rounds on Pinterest.. Here, my new kids have written their goals for the academic year inside the balloons.

This is out in the hallway, right beside our classroom door.

At the start of the year, I wrote student names on the popcorn boxes. These boxes are from a dollar store, and you can pop them out to make them 3 dimensional. I decided to keep them flat so that they wouldn't get knocked off by student knapsacks as the kids came in and out of class every day. The curtains are two long pieces of red fabric that I was able to hang from the ceiling tiles. I ordered the red and white awning from Amazon.

Sorry for the terrible picture quality.

This is an early version of our classroom library. From labelling to painting, I put a lot of effort into organizing and designing a welcoming reading corner this year. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

This is a set of four labels, including one for the class first aid kit (or band aids and lotion students can use),  that I will make available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

These reading necklaces are a fantastic way to get kids motivated to read daily at home. Each student has a necklace hung up with hook pins purchased at the Dollar Tree. I was lucky to have found these hooks at a discount. If you can't find ones at a your local dollar store, you can order these hangable push pins. If students read their weekly books, they can select a bead to place on their necklaces. I will write a blog post about my home reading program and make my carnet de lecture available.

Guided reading table. The pink stick-ons are used as whiteboards. The chair legs were painted yellow, and I maid those blue hanging curtain pieces to hide anything that I need to store under the table. No sewing needed! I picked up the necessary fabrics at Fabricland and got to work measuring, cutting and glue gunning them into existence.

Chalkboard clipboards! A lot of time and patience is needed for this DIY project.

Students use the calendar, weather, and daily schedule as part of our morning routine. We mark each day that we are at school with a sticker, and count our days all the way up until the 100th day of school.