Helpful Hints! Today I have TWO helpful hints for you
NUMBER ONE: Putting together Book Bags
I have used book bags for several years in my classroom, and no two years have ever looked the same! I do things differently with these bad boys almost every single year! However, I am really liking the system I am using this year, and I am getting GREAT feedback from parents!
First of all, my school purchased these canvas bags for all K-2 students. The hope is that we will be able to use them year after year unlike plastic bags we have bought in the past. I labeled each bag with student names, my name, and the note: Return Book Bag every FRIDAY!
Inside the bag is a folder....
Inside the folder we have...
1 and 2: Weekly Fluency Homework from Second Story Window and a book based on the student's reading level
3: Reading Logs- these logs were made for all of our K-2 students so that parents would see a familiar format throughout their elementary years. I actually have 2 of the reading logs so that I don't have to change them out as much.
4: Dolch Word Lists from my Stickin' to the Sight Words unit... I have level 2 and 3 in there right now.
5: Spelling Word Lists for the whole 6 weeks! I don't print off weekly lists anymore because it was such a waste of paper. This lasts for WAY longer!
And, there you have it... that's how I keep my Book Bags nice and organized PLUS they hold a lot- fluency practice, books, reading logs, sight words, spelling words :) I collect Book Bags every Friday, change out the books and fluency passages and then send the bags right back home!
NUMBER TWO: Use what you have around the classroom!
Sometimes I just don't feel like recreating the wheel. I want something that I've used in the past, have around the classroom, or that takes little to no prep. My mom brought me these picture cards to use with Joelle when she first came home. After she mastered all of the words, I decided that I would figure out some way to use these in the classroom (If you have a reading series you probably have something similar!).
I put some of the cards out for Work on Writing during the Daily 5. There are probably over 100 cards, but I chose about 10 so that my students could make a quick choice. They absolutely LOVED writing stories about the pictures!
I love how this kiddo wrote about ants...
While this one wrote a make-believe story about a magical flower!
So easy to pull together without eating up all of my time! I found the writing paper on TpT HERE. Once they get tired of the pictures, I can change those out and find a different writing paper... then it will feel like a completely new activity!
Do you have any helpful hints for teachers out there?! If you are a blogger, make sure you link up with Blog Hoppin'!
I'll be back tomorrow to show you Activities that I am LOVING right now!