F and P Assessment Bulletin Boards

Anyone else using F&P Assessments? Since it is used to inform our guided reading instruction and we share the results with our students, our team decided to make a bulletin board out of the results.  We began with the late fall testing and made a winter theme board showing our students levels with mittens the kids decorated. We had them place their names on the back to maintain privacy.  However, they know their levels and can see where they fall compared to the entire 2nd grade.  It is also a fun way for our fellow teachers and administrators to see how we are doing. 



 

 

We recently just finished up our late winter testing.  For this board, we decided to go with a spring theme and show the students levels on flowers.  The students decorated a petal and we added it to the flower that matched their level.  I think it came out pretty cute.

 

Whisper (Phonic) Phones

I have found that many of my students like using whisper phones when they read.  And they are a great tool for kids working on phonics.  I like that kids can whisper read into the phone and it sounds pretty loud in their ear, but keeps them nice and quiet while others are reading.

Here's my version of this invaluable tool.  My hubby was so kind to help me out on this project (he did all the measuring and sawing) and super sweet to help out a few of my teacher friends who wanted these after they saw what I had. 



Animal Print Whisper Phone
 

Parts of the Whisper Phone

These are made out of 1 inch diameter PVC pipe and some of that cute colorful duct tape (wild animal theme for me!) and costs about $1 or less a phone to make.  Each phone consists of:

• 3 - PVC elbows
• 1 - 6 inch length of pipe
• 1 - 1 1/2 inch length of pipe
• colorful duct tape (for fun!)

• Attach an elbow to each end of the 6 inch pipe
• Use the 1 1/2 inch pipe to attach the last elbow to one of the end elbows
• Wrap colorful duct tape around the part of the 6 inch pipe that is exposed

Ta Da!  Super easy and super cheap!  I use a sharpie to number each phone, so my kids keep the same phone all school year.  They carry it in their book basket, so it travels with them wherever they go to read.  At the end of the year, I just run them through the dishwasher and they are ready to go for the next class.

Brag Tags - A Great Motivational Tool

 

Is anyone else using Brag Tags?  I just became aware of these over the summer and was immediately drawn to them.  I just knew that my students would love them and they do.  I visited www.imagestuff.com to peruse the offerings and couldn't get over how darn cute they all are.  I decided to go with tags that would cover achievement for attendance (each quarter), math (XtraMath addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), reading (100 books read and 100 pts for AR), and a special one that all students received for being a part of our 2nd grade class.  I designed three of them myself and the rest are the company's designs.  You can see all of them in the picture below.  I use this display to remind the kids what they are working towards. 

 

 

Next to the display, I have numbered (the student's number in class) magnets (I found these in the school supplies clearance section at Walmart) that hold up each student's chain with their Brag Tags displayed.  Oh, those chains - I purchased them from Imagestuff, too.  As the students earn tags, we have a little acknowledgement ceremony and I add the tag to their chain.  I was very concerned about students breaking and losing their chains before the year is over, so we keep them displayed and they get to wear them during the school day when they receive a new tag and for our school's quarterly award ceremonies.  They are just such sweet kiddos.  They get so tickled when one of their classmates receives a new tag that they will actually walk over to congratulate the student.

  

Pointers for Reading and The Smart Board

Just a quick post today on my use of pointers in the classroom.  Kids LOVE them!  I have the students use the hand pointers primarily for the Smart Board.  We found that it is much easier to move a hand pointer around the board than your actual hand/finger.  They serve a duo purpose as they use these when they read, too. 

 

 

The animal pointers are just for reading.  I made these out of dowel rods and those cute inexpensive wooden animals you can find in the wood craft section at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and JoAnns.  I borrowed this idea from Pinterest (love this site!).  Super simple, just glue the wood animal onto a dowel rod. You can buy long dowel rods and cut them down. I purchased prepackaged ones that were already a foot or so long.  These were about $3 for a bag of 12 at Hobby Lobby.  After gluing, I did use small clamps (a package of six for a $1 at the Dollar Store) to hold them in place until they dry. I'm surprised how sturdy these things are and it's a good thing because the kids use these every day.  Amazingly, we are at the mid point of our school year and not one of them has broken, yet. 

Classroom Management - Daily 5 - My Version

 

I'm sure many of you have read or have at least heard of the "sisters" books on Daily 5 and CAFE.  I like their ideas and have been using this in my classroom for the last five years.  I have tweaked it to fit my students' and my needs and I really enjoy how it works.  Below is the front of my desk showing my Daily 5 schedule.  I didn't really like the time it took to have students making individual choices - even 2 minutes is too much out of our schedule. Plus, many hem and haw about what they want to do, so I set up a rotation schedule and it changes everyday, so the kids get to do everything within a 2 day period.   My kids already have many other times during the day that they get to make choices, so they still get to practice this skill.

 

Another thing I do not include in my Daily 5 schedule is "Read to Self" and "Read With a Partner" because we do these at a separate time.  In place of those two activities are our Guided Reading Groups.

 

 

 



I have three rotations.  This takes one hour, so I can spend 15-20 minutes with three of my Guided Reading Groups for the day.  The Computer Center actually allows students to work on three of the Daily 5 activities.  Students use the desktops and the tablet to "Listen to Reading," "Work on Writing," and "Work on Word Work."  The students use the SmartBoard to "Listen to Reading," and "Work on Word Work."  The students love it and are always asking when it will be time for Daily 5.  Actually, they seem to like the Guided Reading Group part the best, which isn't really a part of the "sisters" Daily 5. 

At the beginning of the year, we spent time practicing how to read the schedule, what to do for each rotation "center," and how to move around the room quickly and quietly.  The students do a fabulous job and it's one of their favorite times of the day.